Using a Security Analytics Map to Perform Forensic Analytics

ABSTRACT

A system, method, and computer-readable medium are disclosed for performing a security operation. The security operation includes monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to a respective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity; monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a second entity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the second entity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enacted by the second entity; determining whether a first event of the respective first plurality of events and a second event of the respective second plurality of events comprise an entity interaction between the first entity and the second entity; generating an entity interaction map, the entity interaction map providing a representation of the entity interaction between the first entity and the second entity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensics analysis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates in general to the field of computers andsimilar technologies, and in particular to software utilized in thisfield. Still more particularly, it relates to a method, system andcomputer-usable medium for mapping entity interactions with data.

Description of the Related Art

Users interact with physical, system, data, and services resources ofall kinds, as well as each other, on a daily basis. Each of theseinteractions, whether accidental or intended, poses some degree ofsecurity risk. However, not all behavior poses the same risk.Furthermore, determining the extent of risk corresponding to individualevents can be difficult. In particular, ensuring that an entity is whothey claim to be can be challenging.

As an example, a first user may attempt to pose as a second user to gainaccess to certain confidential information. In this example, the firstuser may be prevented from accessing the confidential information if itcan be determined that they are illegitimately posing as the seconduser. More particularly, access to the confidential information may beprevented if the identity of the first user is resolved prior to theconfidential information actually being accessed. Likewise, the firstuser's access to the confidential information may be prevented if theiridentity cannot be resolved to the identity of the second user.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment the invention relates to a method for performing asecurity operation comprising monitoring a plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to arespective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity;monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a secondentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the secondentity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enactedby the second entity; determining whether a first event of therespective first plurality of events and a second event of therespective second plurality of events comprise an entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity; generating an entityinteraction map, the entity interaction map providing a representationof the entity interaction between the first entity and the secondentity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensicsanalysis.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a system comprising: aprocessor; a data bus coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, thenon-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to thedata bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality ofcomputer operations and comprising instructions executable by theprocessor and configured for: monitoring a plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to arespective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity;monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a secondentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the secondentity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enactedby the second entity; determining whether a first event of therespective first plurality of events and a second event of therespective second plurality of events comprise an entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity; generating an entityinteraction map, the entity interaction map providing a representationof the entity interaction between the first entity and the secondentity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensicsanalysis.

In another embodiment the invention relates to a computer-readablestorage medium embodying computer program code, the computer programcode comprising computer executable instructions configured for:monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a firstentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the firstentity corresponding to a respective first plurality of events enactedby the first entity; monitoring a plurality of electronically-observableactions of a second entity, the plurality of electronically-observableactions of the second entity corresponding to a respective secondplurality of events enacted by the second entity; determining whether afirst event of the respective first plurality of events and a secondevent of the respective second plurality of events comprise an entityinteraction between the first entity and the second entity; generatingan entity interaction map, the entity interaction map providing arepresentation of the entity interaction between the first entity andthe second entity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform aforensics analysis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be better understood, and its numerousobjects, features and advantages made apparent to those skilled in theart by referencing the accompanying drawings. The use of the samereference number throughout the several figures designates a like orsimilar element.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary client computer in which the presentinvention may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an edge device;

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of an endpoint agent;

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a security analytics system;

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of the operation of a securityanalytics system;

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of an entity behavior profile(EBP);

FIGS. 7a and 7b are a simplified block diagram of the operation of asecurity analytics system;

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram showing the mapping of an event toa security vulnerability scenario;

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of the generation of a session anda corresponding session-based fingerprint;

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram showing a plurality of eventcounter time periods used to detect an anomalous event;

FIG. 11 shows a box and whisker plot used to detect an anomalous event;

FIG. 12 shows an event risk severity scale used in the performance ofsecurity risk scoring operations;

FIG. 13 shows a simplified block diagram of example source entities anddestination entities associated with certain entity interactions;

FIGS. 14a through 14f show examples of entity interaction maps resultingfrom the performance of one or more security analytics mappingoperations;

FIG. 15 shows a plurality of example entity interactions used togenerate an associated entity interaction map;

FIG. 16 shows an entity interaction map used to trace which entitieshave previously interacted with data associated with the occurrence ofan anomalous event;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the performance of security analyticsmapping operations to generate an entity interaction map;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the performance security analyticsmapping operations to generate an entity interaction trace;

FIG. 19 shows a simplified process flow of the performance of securityanalytics mapping operations; and

FIGS. 20a and 20b show a simplified block diagram of a distributedsecurity analytics mapping system environment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method, system and computer-usable medium are disclosed for mappingentity interactions with data. Certain aspects of the invention reflectan appreciation that the existence of any entity, whether it is anindividual user, a group of users, an organization, a device, a system,a network, an account, a domain, an operation, a process, a softwareapplication, or a service, represents some degree of security risk.Certain aspects of the invention likewise reflect an appreciation thatobservation and analysis of one or more events, described in greaterdetail herein, may provide an indication of possible anomalous,abnormal, unexpected, or malicious behavior, any or all of which mayrepresent a security risk.

Certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation that knownapproaches to anomalous event detection include the use of rule setsthat are not based upon statistics. Certain aspects of the inventionlikewise reflect an appreciation that typical general-purpose anomalousevent detection generally requires a learning period (e.g., thirty days)to collect counters and build a statistical behavioral baseline.Likewise, certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation thata proven statistical behavior baseline implemented for one event, orclass of events, may be used as an initial statistical behavior baselinefor similar events. Accordingly, the initial detection of an anomalousevents associated with a particular entity may be facilitated prior tothe collection of event data directly associated with the entity itself.In particular, certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciationthat such an initial detection may be particularly advantageous when anendpoint device is first implemented, such as its initial use by a newmember of an organization.

Certain aspects of the invention likewise reflect an appreciation thatmalicious behavior by an entity, such as a user, may be difficult todetect when anomalous events associated with the entity take place overan extended period of time. For an example, an employee may believe theybecome a potential security risk only after they give their notice, andonly thereafter will their activities will be tracked. As a result, theemployee may begin stockpiling and exfiltrating data long before anactual resignation occurs (e.g., 60 days) in an attempt to reducesuspicion. Furthermore, such activities may be performed intermittentlyin an attempt to further reduce suspicion.

Certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation that a user mayuse two or more endpoint devices, either directly or indirectly,concurrently or at different times, as described in greater detailherein, to further mask malicious behavior. Certain aspects of theinvention likewise reflect an appreciation that it is generallydifficult to assess the security risk of such distributed entityactivities, whether such behavior occurs concurrently or over time.Likewise, certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation thatit can also be difficult to maintain a historical indicator of riskcorresponding to past anomalous events associated with a particularentity.

Likewise, certain aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation thatdetection of malicious behavior is further hampered by the sheer volumeof data generated as a result of various entity interactions.Furthermore, the challenges of tracking the movement of such volumes ofdata across endpoints, servers, and applications, whether on-premise orin the cloud, increases the possibility of critical data being placed atrisk. Other challenges include the velocity and acceleration at whichnew data of all kinds is being created, the way it is shared anddispersed, often in real-time, using a multitude of applications, bothsanctioned and unsanctioned. Additional challenges include the existenceof multiple copies of the same data sets distributed across differentsystems and platforms with an increasing number of users and otherentities having access to it. Certain aspects of the invention likewisereflect an appreciation that even when the movement of data may betracked, it often lacks context, and by extension, creates impedimentsto identifying non-obvious malicious behavior.

For the purposes of this disclosure, computer-readable media may includeany instrumentality or aggregation of instrumentalities that may retaindata and/or instructions for a period of time. Computer-readable mediamay include, without limitation, storage media such as a direct accessstorage device (e.g., a hard disk drive or solid state drive), asequential access storage device (e.g., a tape disk drive), opticalstorage device, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and/orflash memory; as well as communications media such as wires, opticalfibers, microwaves, radio waves, and other electromagnetic and/oroptical carriers; and/or any combination of the foregoing.

FIG. 1 is a generalized illustration of an information handling system100 that can be used to implement the system and method of the presentinvention. The information handling system 100 includes a processor(e.g., central processor unit or “CPU”) 102, input/output (I/O) devices104, such as a display, a keyboard, a mouse, and associated controllers,a storage system 106, and various other subsystems 108. In variousembodiments, the information handling system 100 also includes networkport 110 operable to connect to a network 140, which is likewiseaccessible by a service provider server 142. The information handlingsystem 100 likewise includes system memory 112, which is interconnectedto the foregoing via one or more buses 114. System memory 112 furtherincludes operating system (OS) 116 and in various embodiments may alsoinclude a security analytics system 118. In one embodiment, theinformation handling system 100 is able to download the securityanalytics system 118 from the service provider server 142. In anotherembodiment, the security analytics system 118 is provided as a servicefrom the service provider server 142.

In various embodiments, the security analytics system 118 performs asecurity analytics operation. In certain embodiments, the securityanalytics operation improves processor efficiency, and thus theefficiency of the information handling system 100, by facilitatingsecurity analytics functions. As will be appreciated, once theinformation handling system 100 is configured to perform the securityanalytics operation, the information handling system 100 becomes aspecialized computing device specifically configured to perform thesecurity analytics operation and is not a general purpose computingdevice. Moreover, the implementation of the security analytics system118 on the information handling system 100 improves the functionality ofthe information handling system 100 and provides a useful and concreteresult of performing security analytics functions to mitigate securityrisk.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to include an entity behavior catalog (EBC) system 120, ananomalous event detection system 122, a security analytics mappingsystem 124, and a security risk scoring system 126, or a combinationthereof. In various embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implementedto perform certain entity behavior catalog operations, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the anomalous eventdetection system 122 may be implemented to perform certain anomalousevent detection operations, as likewise described in greater detailherein. As likewise described in greater detail herein, the securityanalytics mapping system 124 may be implemented in various embodimentsto perform certain security analytics mapping operations. Likewise, asdescribed in greater detail herein, the security risk scoring system 126may be implemented in various embodiments to perform certain securityrisk scoring operations.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an edge device implemented inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. As used herein, an edgedevice, such as the edge device 202 shown in FIG. 2, broadly refers to adevice providing an entry point into a network 140. Examples of suchedge devices 202 may include routers, routing switches, integratedaccess devices (IADs), multiplexers, wide-area network (WAN) accessdevices, and network security appliances. In certain embodiments, thenetwork 140 may be a private network (e.g., an enterprise network), asemi-public network (e.g., a service provider core network), or a publicnetwork (e.g., the Internet).

Skilled practitioners of the art will be aware that edge devices 202 areoften implemented as routers that provide authenticated access tofaster, more efficient backbone and core networks. Furthermore, currentindustry trends include making edge devices 202 more intelligent, whichallows core devices to operate at higher speed as they are not burdenedwith additional administrative overhead. Accordingly, such edge devices202 often include Quality of Service (QoS) and multi-service functionsto manage different types of traffic. Consequently, it is common todesign core networks with switches that use routing protocols such asOpen Shortest Path First (OSPF) or Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)for reliability and scalability. Such approaches allow edge devices 202to have redundant links to the core network, which not only providesimproved reliability, but enables enhanced, flexible, and scalablesecurity capabilities as well.

In certain embodiments, the edge device 202 may be implemented toinclude a communications/services architecture 204, various pluggablecapabilities 212, a traffic router 210, and a pluggable hostingframework 208. In certain embodiments, the communications/servicesarchitecture 202 may be implemented to provide access to and fromvarious networks 140, cloud services 206, or a combination thereof. Incertain embodiments, the cloud services 206 may be provided by a cloudinfrastructure familiar to those of skill in the art. In certainembodiments, the edge device 202 may be implemented to provide supportfor a variety of generic services, such as directory integration,logging interfaces, update services, and bidirectional risk/contextflows associated with various analytics. In certain embodiments, theedge device 202 may be implemented to provide temporal information,described in greater detail herein, associated with the provision ofsuch services.

In certain embodiments, the edge device 202 may be implemented as ageneric device configured to host various network communications, dataprocessing, and security management capabilities. In certainembodiments, the pluggable hosting framework 208 may be implemented tohost such capabilities in the form of pluggable capabilities 212. Incertain embodiments, the pluggable capabilities 212 may includecapability ‘1’ 214 (e.g., basic firewall), capability ‘2’ 216 (e.g.,general web protection), capability ‘3’ 218 (e.g., data sanitization),and so forth through capability ‘n’ 220, which may include capabilitiesneeded for a particular operation, process, or requirement on anas-needed basis. In certain embodiments, such capabilities may includethe performance of operations associated with providing real-timeresolution of the identity of an entity at a particular point in time.In certain embodiments, such operations may include the provision ofassociated temporal information (e.g., time stamps).

In certain embodiments, the pluggable capabilities 212 may be sourcedfrom various cloud services 206. In certain embodiments, the pluggablehosting framework 208 may be implemented to provide certain computingand communication infrastructure components, and foundationcapabilities, required by one or more of the pluggable capabilities 212.In certain embodiments, the pluggable hosting framework 208 may beimplemented to allow the pluggable capabilities 212 to be dynamicallyinvoked. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many suchembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended tolimit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram of an endpoint agent implemented inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. As used herein, anendpoint agent 306 broadly refers to a software agent used incombination with an endpoint device 304 to establish a protectedendpoint 302. Skilled practitioners of the art will be familiar withsoftware agents, which are computer programs that perform actions onbehalf of a user or another program. In various approaches, a softwareagent may be autonomous or work together with another agent or a user.In certain of these approaches the software agent is implemented toautonomously decide if a particular action is appropriate for a givenevent, such as an observed entity behavior, described in greater detailherein.

An endpoint device 304, as likewise used herein, refers to aninformation processing system such as a personal computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smartphone, a mobile telephone, a digital camera, a video camera, or otherdevice that is capable of storing, processing and communicating data. Incertain embodiments, the communication of the data may take place inreal-time or near-real-time. As used herein, real-time broadly refers toprocessing and providing information within a time interval brief enoughto not be discernable by a user. As an example, a cellular phoneconversation may be used to communicate information in real-time, whilean instant message (IM) exchange may be used to communicate informationin near real-time. In certain embodiments, the communication of theinformation may take place asynchronously. For example, an email messagemay be stored on an endpoint device 304 when it is offline. In thisexample, the information may be communicated to its intended recipientonce the endpoint device 304 gains access to a network 140.

A protected endpoint 302, as likewise used herein, broadly refers to apolicy-based approach to network security that typically requiresendpoint devices 304 to comply with particular criteria before they aregranted access to network resources. As an example, a given endpointdevice 304 may be required to have a particular operating system (OS),or version thereof, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) client, anti-virussoftware with current updates, and so forth. In certain embodiments, theprotected endpoint 302 may be implemented to perform operationsassociated with providing real-time resolution of the identity of anentity at a particular point in time, as described in greater detailherein. In certain embodiments, the protected endpoint 302 may beimplemented to provide temporal information, such as timestampinformation, associated with such operations.

In certain embodiments, the real-time resolution of the identity of anentity at a particular point in time may be based upon contextualinformation associated with a given entity behavior. As used herein,contextual information broadly refers to any information, directly orindirectly, individually or in combination, related to a particularentity behavior. In certain embodiments, entity behavior may include anentity's physical behavior, cyber behavior, or a combination thereof. Aslikewise used herein, physical behavior broadly refers to any entitybehavior occurring within a physical realm. More particularly, physicalbehavior may include any action enacted by an entity that can beobjectively observed, or indirectly inferred, within a physical realm.

As an example, a user may attempt to use an electronic access card toenter a secured building at a certain time. In this example, the use ofthe access card to enter the building is the action and the reading ofthe access card makes the user's physical behaviorelectronically-observable. As another example, a first user mayphysically convey a document to a second user, which is captured by avideo surveillance system. In this example, the physical conveyance ofthe document from the first user to the second user is the action.Likewise, the video record of the conveyance makes the first and seconduser's physical behavior electronically-observable. As used herein,electronically-observable user behavior broadly refers to any behaviorexhibited or enacted by a user that can be electronically observed.

Cyber behavior, as used herein, broadly refers to any behavior occurringin cyberspace, whether enacted by an individual user, a group of users,or a system acting at the behest of an individual user, a group ofusers, or an entity. More particularly, cyber behavior may includephysical, social, or mental actions that can be objectively observed, orindirectly inferred, within cyberspace. As an example, a user may use anendpoint device 304 to access and browse a particular website on theInternet. In this example, the individual actions performed by the userto access and browse the website constitute a cyber behavior. As anotherexample, a user may use an endpoint device 304 to download a data filefrom a particular system at a particular point in time. In this example,the individual actions performed by the user to download the data file,and associated temporal information, such as a time-stamp associatedwith the download, constitute a cyber behavior. In these examples, theactions are enacted within cyberspace, in combination with associatedtemporal information, makes them electronically-observable.

As likewise used herein, cyberspace broadly refers to a network 140environment capable of supporting communication between two or moreentities. In certain embodiments, the entity may be a user, an endpointdevice 304, or various resources, described in greater detail herein. Incertain embodiments, the entities may include various endpoint devices304 or resources operating at the behest of an entity, such as a user.In certain embodiments, the communication between the entities mayinclude audio, image, video, text, or binary data.

As described in greater detail herein, the contextual information mayinclude an entity's authentication factors. Contextual information maylikewise include various temporal identity resolution factors, such asidentification factors associated with the entity, thedate/time/frequency of various entity behaviors, the entity's location,the entity's role or position in an organization, their associatedaccess rights, and certain user gestures employed by the user in theenactment of a user behavior. Other contextual information may likewiseinclude various user interactions, whether the interactions are with anendpoint device 304, a network 140, a resource, or another user. Incertain embodiments, user behaviors, and their related contextualinformation, may be collected at particular points of observation, andat particular points in time, described in greater detail herein. Incertain embodiments, a protected endpoint 302 may be implemented as apoint of observation for the collection of entity behavior andcontextual information.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented touniversally support a variety of operating systems, such as AppleMacintosh®, Microsoft Windows®, Linux®, Android® and so forth. Incertain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented tointeract with the endpoint device 304 through the use of low-level hooks312 at the operating system level. It will be appreciated that the useof low-level hooks 312 allows the endpoint agent 306 to subscribe tomultiple events through a single hook. Consequently, multiplefunctionalities provided by the endpoint agent 306 can share a singledata stream, using only those portions of the data stream they mayindividually need. Accordingly, system efficiency can be improved andoperational overhead reduced.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented toprovide a common infrastructure for pluggable feature packs 308. Invarious embodiments, the pluggable feature packs 308 may provide certainsecurity management functionalities. Examples of such functionalitiesmay include various anti-virus and malware detection, data lossprotection (DLP), insider threat detection, and so forth. In certainembodiments, the security management functionalities may include one ormore functionalities associated with providing real-time resolution ofthe identity of an entity at a particular point in time, as described ingreater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, a particular pluggable feature pack 308 may beinvoked as needed by the endpoint agent 306 to provide a givenfunctionality. In certain embodiments, individual features of aparticular pluggable feature pack 308 are invoked as needed. It will beappreciated that the ability to invoke individual features of apluggable feature pack 308, without necessarily invoking all suchfeatures, will likely improve the operational efficiency of the endpointagent 306 while simultaneously reducing operational overhead.Accordingly, the endpoint agent 306 can self-optimize in certainembodiments by using the common infrastructure and invoking only thosepluggable components that are applicable or needed for a given userbehavior.

In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable featurepack 308 are invoked by the endpoint agent 306 according to theoccurrence of a particular user behavior. In certain embodiments, theindividual features of a pluggable feature pack 308 are invoked by theendpoint agent 306 according to the occurrence of a particular temporalevent, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, theindividual features of a pluggable feature pack 308 are invoked by theendpoint agent 306 at a particular point in time. In these embodiments,the method by which a given user behavior, temporal event, or point intime is selected is a matter of design choice.

In certain embodiments, the individual features of a pluggable featurepack 308 may be invoked by the endpoint agent 306 according to thecontext of a particular user behavior. As an example, the context may bethe user enacting the user behavior, their associated riskclassification, which resource they may be requesting, the point in timethe user behavior is enacted, and so forth. In certain embodiments, thepluggable feature packs 308 may be sourced from various cloud services206. In certain embodiments, the pluggable feature packs 308 may bedynamically sourced from various cloud services 206 by the endpointagent 306 on an as-needed basis.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented withadditional functionalities, such as event analytics 310. In certainembodiments, the event analytics 310 functionality may include analysisof various user behaviors, described in greater detail herein. Incertain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented with athin hypervisor 314, which can be run at Ring −1, thereby providingprotection for the endpoint agent 306 in the event of a breach. As usedherein, a thin hypervisor broadly refers to a simplified, OS-dependenthypervisor implemented to increase security. As likewise used herein,Ring −1 broadly refers to approaches allowing guest operating systems torun Ring 0 (i.e., kernel) operations without affecting other guests orthe host OS. Those of skill in the art will recognize that many suchembodiments and examples are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is notintended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a security analytics systemimplemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Incertain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 shown in FIG. 4may include an event queue analytics 404 module, described in greaterdetail herein. In certain embodiments, the event queue analytics 404sub-system may be implemented to include an enrichment 406 module and astreaming analytics 408 module. In certain embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented to provide log storage,reporting, and analytics capable of performing streaming 408 andon-demand 410 analytics operations. In certain embodiments, suchoperations may be associated with defining and managing an entitybehavior profile (EBP), described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, an EBP may be implemented as an adaptive trust profile(ATP). In certain embodiments, an EBP may be implemented to detectentity behavior that may be of analytic utility, adaptively respondingto mitigate risk, or a combination thereof, as described in greaterdetail herein. In certain embodiments, entity behavior of analyticutility may be determined to be anomalous, abnormal, unexpected,malicious, or some combination thereof, as likewise described in greaterdetail herein.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to provide a uniform platform for storing events andcontextual information associated with various entity behaviors andperforming longitudinal analytics. As used herein, longitudinalanalytics broadly refers to performing analytics of entity behaviorsoccurring over a particular period of time. As an example, an entity mayiteratively attempt to access certain proprietary information stored invarious locations. In addition, the attempts may occur over a briefperiod of time. To continue the example, the fact that the informationthe user is attempting to access is proprietary, that it is stored invarious locations, and the attempts are occurring in a brief period oftime, in combination, may indicate the entity behavior enacted by theentity is suspicious. As another example, certain entity identifierinformation (e.g., a user name) associated with an entity may changeover time. In this example, a change in the entity's user name, during aparticular time period or at a particular point in time, may representsuspicious entity behavior.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to be scalable. In certain embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented in a centralized location, suchas a corporate data center. In these embodiments, additional resourcesmay be added to the security analytics system 118 as needs grow. Incertain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented as a distributed system. In these embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may span multiple information handling systems. Incertain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented in a cloud environment. In certain embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented in a virtual machine (VM)environment. In such embodiments, the VM environment may be configuredto dynamically and seamlessly scale the security analytics system 118 asneeded. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many suchembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended tolimit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

In certain embodiments, an event stream collector 402 may be implementedto collect event and related contextual information, described ingreater detail herein, associated with various entity behaviors. Inthese embodiments, the method by which the event and contextualinformation is selected to be collected by the event stream collector402 is a matter of design choice. In certain embodiments, the event andcontextual information collected by the event stream collector 402 maybe processed by an enrichment module 406 to generate enriched entitybehavior information. In certain embodiments, the enrichment may includecertain contextual information related to a particular entity behavioror event. In certain embodiments, the enrichment may include certaintemporal information, such as timestamp information, related to aparticular entity behavior or event.

In certain embodiments, enriched entity behavior information may beprovided by the enrichment module 406 to a streaming 408 analyticsmodule. In turn, the streaming 408 analytics module may provide some orall of the enriched entity behavior information to an on-demand 410analytics module. As used herein, streaming 408 analytics broadly refersto analytics performed in near real-time on enriched entity behaviorinformation as it is received. Likewise, on-demand 410 analytics broadlyrefers herein to analytics performed, as they are requested, on enrichedentity behavior information after it has been received. In certainembodiments, the enriched entity behavior information may be associatedwith a particular event. In certain embodiments, the enrichment 406 andstreaming analytics 408 modules may be implemented to perform eventqueue analytics 404 operations, as described in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, the on-demand 410 analytics may be performed onenriched entity behavior associated with a particular interval of, orpoint in, time. In certain embodiments, the streaming 408 or on-demand410 analytics may be performed on enriched entity behavior associatedwith a particular user, group of users, one or more non-user entities,or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the streaming 408 oron-demand 410 analytics may be performed on enriched entity behaviorassociated with a particular resource, such as a facility, system,datastore, or service. Those of skill in the art will recognize thatmany such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is notintended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

In certain embodiments, the results of various analytics operationsperformed by the streaming 408 or on-demand 410 analytics modules may beprovided to a storage Application Program Interface (API) 414. In turn,the storage API 412 may be implemented to provide access to variousdatastores ‘1’ 416 through ‘n’ 418, which in turn are used to store theresults of the analytics operations. In certain embodiments, thesecurity analytics system 118 may be implemented with a logging andreporting front-end 412, which is used to receive the results ofanalytics operations performed by the streaming 408 analytics module. Incertain embodiments, the datastores ‘1’ 416 through ‘n’ 418 mayvariously include a datastore of entity identifiers, temporal events, ora combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may include arisk scoring 420 module implemented to perform risk scoring operations,described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments,functionalities of the risk scoring 420 module may be provided in theform of a risk management service 422. In certain embodiments, the riskmanagement service 422 may be implemented to perform operationsassociated with defining and managing an entity behavior profile (EBP),as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the riskmanagement service 422 may be implemented to perform operationsassociated with detecting entity behavior that may be of analyticutility and adaptively responding to mitigate risk, as described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the risk managementservice 422 may be implemented to provide the results of variousanalytics operations performed by the streaming 406 or on-demand 408analytics modules. In certain embodiments, the risk management service422 may be implemented to use the storage API 412 to access variousenhanced cyber behavior and analytics information stored on thedatastores ‘1’ 414 through ‘n’ 416. Skilled practitioners of the artwill recognize that many such embodiments are possible. Accordingly, theforegoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of theinvention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of the operation of a securityanalytics system implemented in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 maybe implemented to perform operations associated with providing real-timeresolution of the identity of an entity at a particular point in time.In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented in combination with one or more endpoint agents 306, one ormore edge devices 202, cloud services 206, and a security analyticssystem 118, and a network 140 to perform such operations.

In certain embodiments, the network edge device 202 may be implementedin a bridge, a firewall, or a passive monitoring configuration. Incertain embodiments, the edge device 202 may be implemented as softwarerunning on an information processing system. In certain embodiments, thenetwork edge device 202 may be implemented to provide integratedlogging, updating and control. In certain embodiments, the edge device202 may be implemented to receive network requests and context-sensitivecyber behavior information in the form of enriched cyber behaviorinformation 510, described in greater detail herein, from an endpointagent 306, likewise described in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented as both a source and a sink of entity behavior information.In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to serve requests for user/resource risk data. In certainembodiments, the edge device 202 and the endpoint agent 306,individually or in combination, may provide certain entity behaviorinformation to the security analytics system 118 using either push orpull approaches familiar to skilled practitioners of the art.

As described in greater detail herein, the edge device 202 may beimplemented in certain embodiments to receive enriched user behaviorinformation 510 from the endpoint agent 306. It will be appreciated thatsuch enriched user behavior information 510 will likely not be availablefor provision to the edge device 202 when an endpoint agent 306 is notimplemented for a corresponding endpoint device 304. However, the lackof such enriched user behavior information 510 may be accommodated invarious embodiments, albeit with reduced functionality associated withoperations associated with providing real-time resolution of theidentity of an entity at a particular point in time.

In certain embodiments, a given user behavior may be enriched by anassociated endpoint agent 306 attaching contextual information to arequest. In one embodiment, the context is embedded within a networkrequest, which is then provided as enriched user behavior information510. In another embodiment, the contextual information is concatenated,or appended, to a request, which in turn is provided as enriched userbehavior information 510. In these embodiments, the enriched userbehavior information 510 is unpacked upon receipt and parsed to separatethe request and its associated contextual information. Those of skill inthe art will recognize that one possible disadvantage of such anapproach is that it may perturb certain Intrusion Detection Systemand/or Intrusion Detection Prevention (IDS/IDP) systems implemented on anetwork 140.

In certain embodiments, new flow requests are accompanied by acontextual information packet sent to the edge device 202. In theseembodiments, the new flow requests may be provided as enriched userbehavior information 510. In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306may also send updated contextual information to the edge device 202 onceit becomes available. As an example, an endpoint agent 306 may share alist of files that have been read by a current process at any point intime once the information has been collected. To continue the example,such a list of files may be used to determine which data the endpointagent 306 may be attempting to exfiltrate.

In certain embodiments, point analytics processes executing on the edgedevice 202 may request a particular service. As an example, risk scoreson a per-user basis may be requested. In certain embodiments, theservice may be requested from the security analytics system 118. Incertain embodiments, the service may be requested from various cloudservices 206.

In certain embodiments, contextual information associated with a userbehavior may be attached to various network service requests. In certainembodiments, the request may be wrapped and then handled by proxy. Incertain embodiments, a small packet of contextual information associatedwith a user behavior may be sent with a service request. In certainembodiments, service requests may be related to Domain Name Service(DNS), web, email, and so forth, all of which are essentially requestsfor service by an endpoint device 304. In certain embodiments, suchservice requests may be associated with temporal event information,described in greater detail herein. Consequently, such requests can beenriched by the addition of user behavior contextual information (e.g.,UserAccount, interactive/automated, data-touched, temporal eventinformation, etc.). Accordingly, the edge device 202 can then use thisinformation to manage the appropriate response to submitted requests. Incertain embodiments, such requests may be associated with providingreal-time resolution of the identity of an entity at a particular pointin time.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented in different operational configurations. In one embodiment,the security analytics system 118 may be implemented by using theendpoint agent 306. In another embodiment, the security analytics system118 may be implemented by using endpoint agent 306 in combination withthe edge device 202. In certain embodiments, the cloud services 206 maylikewise be implemented for use by the endpoint agent 306, the edgedevice 202, and the security analytics system 118, individually or incombination. In these embodiments, the security analytics system 118 maybe primarily oriented to performing risk assessment operations relatedto user actions, program actions, data accesses, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, program actions may be treated as aproxy for the user.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented toupdate the security analytics system 118 with user behavior andassociated contextual information, thereby allowing an offload ofcertain analytics processing overhead. In one embodiment, this approachallows for longitudinal risk scoring, which assesses risk associatedwith certain user behavior during a particular interval of time. Inanother embodiment, the security analytics system 118 may be implementedto perform risk-adaptive operations to access risk scores associatedwith the same user account, but accrued on different endpoint devices304. It will be appreciated that such an approach may prove advantageouswhen an adversary is “moving sideways” through a network environment,using different endpoint devices 304 to collect information.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beprimarily oriented to applying risk mitigations in a way that maximizessecurity effort return-on-investment (ROI). In certain embodiments, theapproach may be accomplished by providing additional contextual and userbehavior information associated with user requests. As an example, a webgateway may not concern itself with why a particular file is beingrequested by a certain entity at a particular point in time.Accordingly, if the file cannot be identified as malicious or harmless,there is no context available to determine how, or if, to proceed.

To extend the example, the edge device 202 and security analytics system118 may be coupled such that requests can be contextualized and fittedinto a framework that evaluates their associated risk. It will beappreciated that such an embodiment works well with web-based data lossprotection (DLP) approaches, as each conveyance of data is no longerexamined in isolation, but in the broader context of an identifieduser's actions, at a particular time, on the network 140.

As another example, the security analytics system 118 may be implementedto perform risk scoring processes to decide whether to block or allowunusual flows. It will be appreciated that such an approach is highlyapplicable to defending against point-of-sale (POS) malware, a breachtechnique that has become increasingly more common in recent years. Itwill likewise be appreciated that while various edge device 202implementations may not stop all such exfiltrations, they may be able tocomplicate the task for the attacker.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beprimarily oriented to maximally leverage contextual informationassociated with various user behaviors within the system. In certainembodiments, data flow tracking is performed by one or more endpointagents 306, which allows the quantity and type of information associatedwith particular hosts to be measured. In turn, this information may beused to determine how the edge device 202 handles requests. Bycontextualizing such user behavior on the network 140, the securityanalytics system 118 can provide intelligent protection, makingdecisions that make sense in the broader context of an organization'sactivities. It will be appreciated that one advantage to such anapproach is that information flowing through an organization, and thenetworks they employ, should be trackable, and substantial data breachespreventable. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that manysuch embodiments and examples are possible. Accordingly, the foregoingis not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of an entity behavior profile(EBP) implemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Asused herein, an entity behavior profile 638 broadly refers to acollection of information that uniquely describes a particular entity'sidentity and their associated behavior, whether the behavior occurswithin a physical realm or cyberspace. In certain embodiments, an EBP638 may be used to adaptively draw inferences regarding thetrustworthiness of a particular entity. In certain embodiments, asdescribed in greater detail herein, the drawing of the inferences mayinvolve comparing a new entity behavior to known past behaviors enactedby the entity. In certain embodiments, new entity behavior of analyticutility may represent entity behavior that represents a security risk.As likewise used herein, an entity broadly refers to something that canbe described, uniquely identified, and exists as itself, whetherphysically or abstractly. In certain embodiments, an entity may be auser entity, a non-user entity, or a data entity. In certainembodiments, the identity of an entity may be known or unknown.

As used herein, a user entity broadly refers to an entity capable ofenacting certain user entity behavior, as described in greater detailherein, but is incapable of enacting a non-user entity or data entitybehavior. Examples of a user entity include an individual person, agroup of people, an organization, or a government. As likewise usedherein, a non-user entity broadly refers to an entity capable ofenacting certain non-user entity behavior, but is incapable of enactinga user entity or data entity behavior. Examples of a non-user entityinclude an item, a device, such as endpoint and edge devices, a network,an account, a domain, an operation, a process, and an event. Otherexamples of a non-user entity include a resource, such as a geographicallocation or formation, a physical facility, a venue, a system, asoftware application, a data store, and a service, such as a serviceoperating in a cloud environment. Examples of non-user entity behaviorinclude performing a mechanical, electrical, electronic, or computingoperation. Other examples of non-user entity behavior includedreceiving, retrieving, processing, storing, and providing information.

As used herein, data broadly refers to information that has beentranslated into a form that is efficient for movement or processing. Aslikewise used herein, a data entity broadly refers to an entity capableof enacting certain data entity behavior, but is incapable of enacting auser entity or non-user entity behavior. Examples of a data entityinclude a data file, a dataset, an individual data element, an object,an audio or video recording, an image or graphics file, and a text oremail message. Other examples of a data entity include metadata, awritten or printed text, a graphical image recorded on a physicalmedium, and a recording of a human gesture or utterance. Examples ofdata entity behavior include the ingestion of data, the storage of data,the modification of data, the portioning of data, the aggregation ofdata, the provision of data, the persisting of data, and the deletion ofdata. In certain embodiments, a data entity may be involved in an entityinteraction, as described in greater detail herein, with another entity.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that beingable to uniquely identity a device may assist in establishing whether ornot a particular login is legitimate. As an example, user impersonationsmay not occur at the user's endpoint, but instead, from another deviceor system. Certain embodiments of the invention likewise reflect anappreciation that profiling the entity behavior of a particular deviceor system may assist in determining whether or not it is actingsuspiciously.

In certain embodiments, an account may be local account, which runs on asingle machine. In certain embodiments, an account may be a globalaccount, providing access to multiple resources. In certain embodiments,a process may be implemented to run in an unattended mode, such as whenbacking up files or checking for software updates. Certain embodimentsof the invention reflect an appreciation that it is often advantageousto track events at the process level as a method of determining whichevents are associated with background processes and which are initiatedby a user entity.

In certain embodiments, an EBP 638 may be implemented to include a userentity profile 602, an associated user entity mindset profile 630, anon-user entity profile 632, a data entity profile 642, and an entitystate 636. As used herein, a user entity profile 602 broadly refers to acollection of information that uniquely describes a user entity'sidentity and their associated behavior, whether the behavior occurswithin a physical realm or cyberspace. In certain embodiments, asdescribed in greater detail herein, the user entity profile 602 mayinclude user profile attributes 604, user behavior factors 610, usermindset factors 622, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments,the user profile attributes 604 may include certain user authenticationfactors 606, described in greater detail herein, and personalinformation 608.

As used herein, a user profile attribute 604 broadly refers to data ormetadata that can be used, individually or in combination with otheruser profile attributes 604, user behavior factors 610, or user mindsetfactors 622, to ascertain the identity of a user entity. In variousembodiments, certain user profile attributes 604 may be uniquelyassociated with a particular user entity. In certain embodiments, thepersonal information 608 may include non-sensitive personal informationassociated with a user entity, such as their name, title, position,role, and responsibilities. In certain embodiments, the personalinformation 608 may likewise include technical skill level information,peer information, expense account information, paid time off (PTO)information, data analysis information, insider information,misconfiguration information, third party information, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, the personal information 608 maycontain sensitive personal information associated with a user entity. Asused herein, sensitive personal information (SPI), also commonlyreferred to as personally identifiable information (PII), broadly refersto any information usable to ascertain the identity of a user entity,either by itself, or in combination with other information, such ascontextual information described in greater detail herein.

Examples of SPI may include the full or legal name of a user entity,initials or nicknames, place and date of birth, home and businessaddresses, personal and business telephone numbers, their gender, andother genetic information. Additional examples of SPI may includegovernment-issued identifiers, such as a Social Security Number (SSN) ora passport number, vehicle registration plate and serial numbers, anddriver's license numbers. Other examples of SPI may include certainemail addresses and social media identifiers, credit and debit cardnumbers, and other digital identity information. Yet other examples ofSPI may include employer-issued identifiers, financial transactioninformation, credit scores, electronic medical records (EMRs), insuranceclaim information, personal correspondence, and so forth. Furtherexamples of SPI may include user authentication factors 606, such asbiometrics, user identifiers and passwords, and personal identificationnumbers (PINs).

In certain embodiments, the SPI may include information considered by anindividual user, a group of users, or an organization (e.g., a company,a government or non-government organization, etc.), to be confidentialor proprietary. One example of such confidential information isprotected health information (PHI). As used herein, PHI broadly refersto any information associated with the health status, provision ofhealth care, or payment for health care that is created or collected bya “covered entity,” or an associate thereof, that can be linked to aparticular individual. As used herein, a “covered entity” broadly refersto health plans, healthcare clearinghouses, healthcare providers, andothers, who may electronically communicate any health-relatedinformation associated with a particular individual. Examples of suchPHI may include any part of a patient's medical record, healthcarerecord, or payment history for medical or healthcare services.

As used herein, a user behavior factor 610 broadly refers to informationassociated with a user entity's behavior, whether the behavior occurswithin a physical realm or cyberspace. In certain embodiments, userbehavior factors 610 may include the user entity's access rights 612,the user entity's interactions 614, and the date/time/frequency 616 ofwhen the interactions 614 are enacted. In certain embodiments, the userbehavior factors 610 may likewise include the user entity's location618, and the gestures 620 used by the user entity to enact theinteractions 614.

In certain embodiments, the user entity gestures 620 may include keystrokes on a keypad, a cursor movement, a mouse movement or click, afinger swipe, tap, or other hand gesture, an eye movement, or somecombination thereof. In certain embodiments, the user entity gestures620 may likewise include the cadence of the user's keystrokes, themotion, force and duration of a hand or finger gesture, the rapidity anddirection of various eye movements, or some combination thereof. Incertain embodiments, the user entity gestures 620 may include variousaudio or verbal commands performed by the user.

As used herein, user mindset factors 622 broadly refer to informationused to make inferences regarding the mental state of a user entity at aparticular point in time, during the occurrence of an event or anenactment of a user behavior, or a combination thereof. As likewise usedherein, mental state broadly refers to a hypothetical statecorresponding to the way a user entity may be thinking or feeling.Likewise, as used herein, an event broadly refers to the occurrence ofan action performed by an entity. In certain embodiments, the userentity mindset factors 622 may include a personality type 624. Examplesof known approaches for determining a personality type 624 includeJungian types, Myers-Briggs type indicators, Keirsey Temperament Sorter,Socionics, Enneagram of Personality, and Eyseneck's three-factor model.

In certain embodiments, the user mindset factors 622 may include variousbehavioral biometrics 626. As used herein, a behavioral biometric 628broadly refers to a physiological indication of a user entity's mentalstate. Examples of behavioral biometrics 626 may include a user entity'sblood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, eye movements and irisdilation, facial expressions, body language, tone and pitch of voice,speech patterns, and so forth.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation thatcertain user behavior factors 610, such as user entity gestures 620, mayprovide additional information related to inferring a user entity'smental state. As an example, a user entering text at a quick pace with arhythmic cadence may indicate intense focus. Likewise, an individualuser intermittently entering text with forceful keystrokes may indicatethe user is in an agitated state. As another example, the user mayintermittently enter text somewhat languorously, which may indicatebeing in a thoughtful or reflective state of mind. As yet anotherexample, the user may enter text with a light touch with an unevencadence, which may indicate the user is hesitant or unsure of what isbeing entered.

Certain embodiments of the invention likewise reflect an appreciationthat while the user entity gestures 620 may provide certain indicationsof the mental state of a particular user entity, they may not providethe reason for the user entity to be in a particular mental state.Likewise, certain embodiments of the invention include an appreciationthat certain user entity gestures 620 and behavioral biometrics 626 arereflective of an individual user's personality type 624. As an example,aggressive, forceful keystrokes combined with an increased heart ratemay indicate normal behavior for a particular user when composingend-of-month performance reviews. In various embodiments, certain userentity behavior factors 610, such as user gestures 620, may becorrelated with certain contextual information, as described in greaterdetail herein.

In certain embodiments, a security analytics system 118, described ingreater detail herein, may be implemented to include an entity behaviorcatalog (EBC) system 120, an anomalous event detection system 122, asecurity analytics mapping system 124, and a security risk scoringsystem 126, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, thesecurity analytics system 118 may be implemented to access a repositoryof event 670 data, a repository of security risk scoring data 660, arepository of EBC 690 data, and a repository of security analytics 680data, or a combination thereof. In various embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented to use certain informationstored in the repository of event 670 data, the repository of securityrisk scoring 660 data, the repository of EBC 690 data, and therepository of security analytics 680 data, or a combination thereof, toperform a security analytics operation, described in greater detailherein. In certain embodiments, the results of a particular securityanalytics operation may be stored in the repository of securityanalytics 680 data.

In certain embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented togenerate, manage, store, or some combination thereof, informationrelated to the behavior of an associated entity. In certain embodiments,the information related to the behavior of a particular entity may bestored in the form of an EBP 638. In certain embodiments, the EBC system120 may be implemented to store the information related to the behaviorof a particular entity in the repository of EBC 690 data. In variousembodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented to generate certaininformation related to the behavior of a particular entity from eventinformation associated with the entity, as described in greater detailherein. In certain embodiments, event information associated with aparticular entity may be stored in the repository of event 670 data.

In various embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented as a cyberbehavior catalog. In certain of these embodiments, the cyber behaviorcatalog may be implemented to generate, manage, store, or somecombination thereof, information related to cyber behavior, described ingreater detail herein, enacted by an associated entity. In variousembodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein, theinformation generated, managed, stored, or some combination thereof, bysuch a cyber behavior catalog, may be related to cyber behavior enactedby a user entity, a non-user entity, or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the anomalous event detection system 122 may beimplemented to perform an anomalous event detection operation, likewisedescribed in greater detail herein. In various embodiments, as likewisedescribed in greater detail herein, the anomalous event detection system122 may be implemented to use certain event information stored in therepositories of security risk scoring 660, event 670, EBC 690, andsecurity analytics 680 data, or a combination thereof, to perform theanomalous event detection operation. As used herein, an anomalous eventdetection operation broadly refers to any operation that may beperformed to detect an anomalous event associated with a particular useror non-user entity. In certain embodiments, a particular anomalous eventdetection operation may be performed as a security operation, describedin greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented to use auser entity profile 602 in combination with an entity state 636 togenerate a user entity mindset profile 630. As used herein, entity state636 broadly refers to the context of a particular event or entitybehavior. In certain embodiments, the entity state 636 may be along-term entity state or a short-term entity state. As used herein, along-term entity state 636 broadly relates to an entity state 636 thatpersists for an extended interval of time, such as six months or a year.As likewise used herein, a short-term entity state 636 broadly relatesto an entity state 636 that occurs for a brief interval of time, such asa few minutes or a day. In various embodiments, the method by which anentity state's 636 associated interval of time is considered to belong-term or short-term is a matter of design choice.

As an example, a particular user may have a primary work location, suchas a branch office, and a secondary work location, such as theircompany's corporate office. In this example, the user's primary andsecondary offices respectively correspond to the user's location 618,whereas the presence of the user at either office corresponds to anentity state 636. To continue the example, the user may consistentlywork at their primary office Monday through Thursday, but at theircompany's corporate office on Fridays. To further continue the example,the user's presence at their primary work location may be a long-termentity state 636, while their presence at their secondary work locationmay be a short-term entity state 636. Accordingly, a date/time/frequency616 user entity behavior factor 610 can likewise be associated with userbehavior respectively enacted on those days, regardless of theircorresponding locations. Consequently, the long-term user entity state636 on Monday through Thursday will typically be “working at the branchoffice” and the short-term entity state 636 on Friday will likely be“working at the corporate office.”

As likewise used herein, a user entity mindset profile 630 broadlyrefers to a collection of information that reflects an inferred mentalstate of a user entity at a particular time during the occurrence of anevent or an enactment of a user behavior. As an example, certaininformation may be known about a user entity, such as their name, theirtitle and position, and so forth, all of which are user profileattributes 604. Likewise, it may be possible to observe a user entity'sassociated user behavior factors 610, such as their interactions withvarious systems, when they log-in and log-out, when they are active atthe keyboard, the rhythm of their keystrokes, and which files theytypically use.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation thesebehavior factors 610 can be considered to be a behavioral fingerprint.In certain embodiments, the user behavior factors 610 may change, alittle or a lot, from day to day. These changes may be benign, such aswhen a user entity begins a new project and accesses new data, or theymay indicate something more concerning, such as a user entity who isactively preparing to steal data from their employer. In certainembodiments, the user behavior factors 610 may be implemented toascertain the identity of a user entity. In certain embodiments, theuser behavior factors 610 may be uniquely associated with a particularentity.

In certain embodiments, observed user behaviors may be used to build auser entity profile 602 for a particular user or other entity. Inaddition to creating a model of a user's various attributes and observedbehaviors, these observations can likewise be used to infer things thatare not necessarily explicit. Accordingly, in certain embodiments, abehavioral fingerprint may be used in combination with an EBP 638 togenerate an inference regarding an associated user entity. As anexample, a particular user may be observed eating a meal, which may ormay not indicate the user is hungry. However, if it is also known thatthe user worked at their desk throughout lunchtime and is now eating asnack during a mid-afternoon break, then it can be inferred they areindeed hungry.

As likewise used herein, a non-user entity profile 632 broadly refers toa collection of information that uniquely describes a non-user entity'sidentity and their associated behavior, whether the behavior occurswithin a physical realm or cyberspace. In various embodiments, thenon-user entity profile 632 may be implemented to include certainnon-user profile attributes 634. As used herein, a non-user profileattribute 634 broadly refers to data or metadata that can be used,individually or in combination with other non-user profile attributes634, to ascertain the identity of a non-user entity. In variousembodiments, certain non-user profile attributes 634 may be uniquelyassociated with a particular non-user entity.

In certain embodiments, the non-user profile attributes 634 may beimplemented to include certain identity information, such as a non-userentity's network, Media Access Control (MAC), or physical address, itsserial number, associated configuration information, and so forth. Invarious embodiments, the non-user profile attributes 634 may beimplemented to include non-user behavior information associated withinteractions between certain user and non-user entities, the type ofthose interactions, the data exchanged during the interactions, thedate/time/frequency of such interactions, and certain services accessedor provided.

A data entity profile 642, as used herein, broadly refers to acollection of information that uniquely identifies a data entity and itsbehavior, whether the behavior occurs within a physical realm orcyberspace. In various embodiments, the data entity profile 642 may beimplemented to include certain data profile attributes 644. As usedherein, a data profile attribute broadly refers to data or metadata thatcan be used, individually or in combination with other data profileattributes 644, to ascertain the identity of a data entity. In variousembodiments, certain data profile attributes 644 may be uniquelyassociated with a particular data entity.

In certain embodiments, the data profile attributes 644 may beimplemented to include certain identity information, such as a filename, a hash value, time and date stamps, a digital watermark familiarto those of skill in the art, and so forth. In various embodiments, thedata profile attributes 644 may be implemented to include data entitybehavior information associated with interactions between certain userand non-user entities, the type of those interactions, modifications tothe data entity during a particular interaction, and thedate/time/frequency of such interactions.

In various embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented to usecertain data associated with an EBP 638 to provide a probabilisticmeasure of whether a particular electronically-observable event is ofanalytic utility. In certain embodiments, an electronically-observableevent that is of analytic utility may be determined to be anomalous,abnormal, unexpected, or malicious. In certain embodiments, anelectronically-observable event determined to be anomalous, abnormal,unexpected, or malicious may be associated with an operation performedby a particular endpoint device, described in greater detail herein. Tocontinue the prior example, a user may typically work out of theircompany's corporate office on Fridays. Furthermore, various user mindsetfactors 622 within their associated user entity profile 602 may indicatethat the user is typically relaxed and methodical when working withcustomer data. Moreover, the user's user entity profile 602 indicatesthat such user interactions 614 with customer data typically occur onMonday mornings and the user rarely, if ever, copies or downloadscustomer data. However, the user may decide to interact with certaincustomer data late at night, on a Friday, while in their company'scorporate office. As they do so, they exhibit an increased heart rate,rapid breathing, and furtive keystrokes while downloading a subset ofcustomer data to a flash drive.

Consequently, their user entity mindset profile 630 may reflect anervous, fearful, or guilty mindset, which is inconsistent with theentity state 634 of dealing with customer data in general. Moreparticularly, downloading customer data late at night on a day the useris generally not in their primary office results in an entity state 634that is likewise inconsistent with the user's typical user behavior. Asa result, the EBC system 120 may infer that the user's behavior mayrepresent a security threat. Those of skill in the art will recognizethat many such embodiments and examples are possible. Accordingly, theforegoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of theinvention.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that thequantity, and relevancy, of information contained in a particular EBP638 may have a direct bearing on its analytic utility when attempting todetermine the trustworthiness of an associated entity and whether or notthey represent a security risk. As used herein, the quantity ofinformation contained in a particular EBP 638 broadly refers to thevariety and volume of EBP elements it may contain, and the frequency oftheir respective instances, or occurrences, related to certain aspectsof an associated entity's identity and behavior. As used herein, an EBPelement broadly refers to any data element stored in an EBP 638, asdescribed in greater detail herein. In various embodiments, an EBPelement may be used to describe a particular aspect of an EBP, such ascertain user profile attributes 604, user behavior factors 610, usermindset factors 622, user entity mindset profile 630, non-user profileattributes 634, and entity state 636.

In certain embodiments, statistical analysis may be performed on theinformation contained in a particular EBP 638 to determine thetrustworthiness of its associated entity and whether or not theyrepresent a security risk. For example, a particular authenticationfactor 606, such as a biometric, may be consistently used by a userentity for authenticating their identity to their endpoint device. Tocontinue the example, a user ID and password may be used by the same, ora different user entity, in an attempt to access the endpoint device. Asa result, the use of a user ID and password may indicate a security riskdue to its statistical infrequency. As another example, a user entitymay consistently access three different systems on a daily basis intheir role as a procurement agent. In this example, the three systemsmay include a financial accounting system, a procurement system, and aninventory control system. To continue the example, an attempt by theprocurement agent to access a sales forecast system may appearsuspicious if never attempted before, even if the purpose for accessingthe system is legitimate.

As likewise used herein, the relevancy of information contained in aparticular EBP 638 broadly refers to the pertinence of the EBP elementsit may contain to certain aspects of an associated entity's identity andbehavior. To continue the prior example, an EBP 638 associated with theprocurement agent may contain certain user profile attributes 604related to their title, position, role, and responsibilities, all orwhich may be pertinent to whether or not they have a legitimate need toaccess the sales forecast system. In certain embodiments, the userprofile attributes 604 may be implemented to include certain jobdescription information. To further continue the example, such jobdescription information may have relevance when attempting to determinewhether or not the associated entity's behavior is suspicious. Infurther continuance of the example, job description information relatedto the procurement agent may include their responsibility to check salesforecast data, as needed, to ascertain whether or not to procure certainitems. In these embodiments, the method by which it is determinedwhether the information contained in a particular EBP 638 is ofsufficient quantity and relevancy is a matter of design choice.

Various embodiments of the invention likewise reflect an appreciationthat accumulating sufficient information in an EBP 638 to make such adetermination may take a certain amount of time. Likewise, variousembodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that theeffectiveness or accuracy of such a determination may rely upon certainentity behaviors occurring with sufficient frequency, or in identifiablepatterns, or a combination thereof, during a particular period of time.As an example, there may not be sufficient occurrences of a particulartype of entity behavior to determine if a new entity behavior isinconsistent with known past occurrences of the same type of entitybehavior. Accordingly, various embodiments of the invention reflect anappreciation that a sparsely-populated EBP 638 may likewise result inexposure to certain security vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the relevanceof such sparsely-populated information initially contained in an EBP 638first implemented may not prove very useful when using an EBP 638 todetermine the trustworthiness of an associated entity and whether or notthey represent a security risk.

FIGS. 7a and 7b show a block diagram of a security analytics environmentimplemented in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Incertain embodiments, a security analytics system 118 may be implementedwith an entity behavior catalog (EBC) system 120, an anomalous eventdetection system 122, a security analytics mapping system 124, andsecurity risk scoring system 126, or a combination thereof. In certainembodiments, analyses performed by the security analytics system 118 maybe used to identify behavior associated with a particular entity thatmay be of analytic utility.

In certain embodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein,the EBC system 120, the anomalous event detection system 122, thesecurity analytics mapping system 124, and the security risk scoringsystem 126, or a combination thereof, may be used in combination withthe security analytics system 118 to perform such analyses. In variousembodiments, certain data stored in the repositories of security riskscoring 660, event 670, security analytics 680, and EBC 690 data, or acombination thereof, may be used by the security analytics system 118 toperform the analyses. As likewise described in greater detail herein,the security analytics system 118, the EBC system 120, the anomalousevent detection system 122, the security analytics mapping system 124,and the security risk scoring system 126, or a combination thereof, maybe used in combination with one another in certain embodiments toperform an anomalous event detection operation. Likewise, certain datastored in the repositories of security risk scoring 660, event 670,security analytics 680, and EBC 690 data, or a combination thereof, maybe used in various embodiments to perform the anomalous event detectionoperation.

In certain embodiments, the entity behavior of analytic utility may beidentified at a particular point in time, during the occurrence of anevent, the enactment of a user or non-user entity behavior, or acombination thereof. As used herein, an entity broadly refers tosomething that exists as itself, whether physically or abstractly. Incertain embodiments, an entity may be a user entity, a non-user entity,or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, a user entity may bean individual user, such as user ‘A’ 702 or ‘B’ 772, a group, anorganization, or a government. In certain embodiments, a non-user entitymay likewise be an item, a device, such as endpoint 304 and edge 202devices, a network, such as an internal 744 and external 746 networks, adomain, an operation, or a process. In certain embodiments, a non-userentity may be a resource 750, such as a geographical location orformation, a physical facility 752, such as a venue, various physicalsecurity devices 754, a system 756, shared devices 758, such as printer,scanner, or copier, a data store 760, or a service 762, such as aservice 762 operating in a cloud environment.

As likewise used herein, an event broadly refers to the occurrence of anaction performed by an entity. In certain embodiments, the action may bedirectly associated with an entity behavior, described in greater detailherein. As an example, a first user may attach a binary file infectedwith a virus to an email that is subsequently sent to a second user. Inthis example, the act of attaching the binary file to the email isdirectly associated with an entity behavior enacted by the first user.In certain embodiments, the action may be indirectly associated with anentity behavior. To continue the example, the recipient of the email mayopen the infected binary file, and as a result, infect their computerwith malware. To further continue the example, the act of opening theinfected binary file is directly associated with an entity behaviorenacted by the second user. However, the infection of the emailrecipient's computer by the infected binary file is indirectlyassociated with the described entity behavior enacted by the seconduser.

In various embodiments, certain user authentication factors 606 may beused to authenticate the identity of a user entity. In certainembodiments, the user authentication factors 606 may be used to ensurethat a particular user entity, such as user ‘A’ 702 or ‘B’ 772, isassociated with their corresponding user entity profile 602, rather thana user entity profile 602 associated with another user. In certainembodiments, the user authentication factors 606 may include a user'sbiometrics 706 (e.g., a fingerprint or retinal scan), tokens 708 (e.g.,a dongle containing cryptographic keys), user identifiers and passwords(ID/PW) 710, and personal identification numbers (PINs).

In certain embodiments, information associated with such user entitybehavior may be stored in a user entity profile 602, described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the user entity profile602 may be stored in a repository of entity behavior catalog (EBC) data690. In certain embodiments, as likewise described in greater detailherein, the user entity profile 602 may include user profile attributes604, user behavior factors 610, user mindset factors 622, or acombination thereof. As used herein, a user profile attribute 604broadly refers to data or metadata that can be used, individually or incombination with other user profile attributes 604, user behaviorfactors 610, or user mindset factors 622, to ascertain the identity of auser entity. In various embodiments, certain user profile attributes 604may be uniquely associated with a particular user entity.

As likewise used herein, a user behavior factor 610 broadly refers toinformation associated with a user's behavior, whether the behavioroccurs within a physical realm or cyberspace. In certain embodiments,the user behavior factors 610 may include the user's access rights 612,the user's interactions 614, and the date/time/frequency 616 of thoseinteractions 614. In certain embodiments, the user behavior factors 610may likewise include the user's location 618 when the interactions 614are enacted, and the user gestures 620 used to enact the interactions614.

In various embodiments, certain date/time/frequency 616 user behaviorfactors 610 may be implemented as ontological or societal time, or acombination thereof. As used herein, ontological time broadly refers tohow one instant in time relates to another in a chronological sense. Asan example, a first user behavior enacted at 12:00 noon on May 17, 2017may occur prior to a second user behavior enacted at 6:39 PM on May 18,2018. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize one value ofontological time is to determine the order in which various userbehaviors have been enacted.

As likewise used herein, societal time broadly refers to the correlationof certain user profile attributes 604, user behavior factors 610, usermindset factors 622, or a combination thereof, to one or more instantsin time. As an example, user ‘A’ 702 may access a particular system 756to download a customer list at 3:47 PM on Nov. 3, 2017. Analysis oftheir user behavior profile indicates that it is not unusual for user‘A’ 702 to download the customer list on a weekly basis. However,examination of their user behavior profile also indicates that user ‘A’702 forwarded the downloaded customer list in an email message to user‘B’ 772 at 3:49 PM that same day. Furthermore, there is no record intheir user behavior profile that user ‘A’ 702 has ever communicated withuser ‘B’ 772 in the past. Moreover, it may be determined that user ‘B’872 is employed by a competitor. Accordingly, the correlation of user‘A’ 702 downloading the customer list at one point in time, and thenforwarding the customer list to user ‘B’ 772 at a second point in timeshortly thereafter, is an example of societal time.

In a variation of the prior example, user ‘A’ 702 may download thecustomer list at 3:47 PM on Nov. 3, 2017. However, instead ofimmediately forwarding the customer list to user ‘B’ 772, user ‘A’ 702leaves for a two week vacation. Upon their return, they forward thepreviously-downloaded customer list to user ‘B’ 772 at 9:14 AM on Nov.20, 2017. From an ontological time perspective, it has been two weekssince user ‘A’ 702 accessed the system 756 to download the customerlist. However, from a societal time perspective, they have stillforwarded the customer list to user ‘B’ 772, despite two weeks havingelapsed since the customer list was originally downloaded.

Accordingly, the correlation of user ‘A’ 702 downloading the customerlist at one point in time, and then forwarding the customer list to user‘B’ 772 at a much later point in time, is another example of societaltime. More particularly, it may be inferred that the intent of user ‘A’702 did not change during the two weeks they were on vacation.Furthermore, user ‘A’ 702 may have attempted to mask an intendedmalicious act by letting some period of time elapse between the timethey originally downloaded the customer list and when they eventuallyforwarded it to user ‘B’ 772. From the foregoing, those of skill in theart will recognize that the use of societal time may be advantageous indetermining whether a particular entity behavior is of analytic utility.As used herein, mindset factors 622 broadly refer to information used toinfer the mental state of a user at a particular point in time, duringthe occurrence of an event, an enactment of a user behavior, orcombination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to process certain entity attribute information, describedin greater detail herein, associated with providing resolution of theidentity of an entity at a particular point in time. In variousembodiments, the security analytics system 118 may be implemented to usecertain entity identifier information, likewise described in greaterdetail herein, to ascertain the identity of an associated entity at aparticular point in time. In various embodiments, the entity identifierinformation may include certain temporal information, described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the temporal informationmay be associated with an event associated with a particular point intime.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to use information associated with certain entity behaviorelements to resolve the identity of an entity at a particular point intime. An entity behavior element, as used herein, broadly refers to adiscrete element of an entity's behavior during the performance of aparticular operation in a physical realm, cyberspace, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, such entity behavior elements may beassociated with a user/device 730, a user/network 742, a user/resource748, a user/user 770 interaction, or a combination thereof.

As an example, user ‘A’ 702 may use an endpoint device 304 to browse aparticular web page on a news site on an external system 776. In thisexample, the individual actions performed by user ‘A’ 702 to access theweb page are entity behavior elements that constitute an entitybehavior, described in greater detail herein. As another example, user‘A’ 702 may use an endpoint device 304 to download a data file from aparticular system 756. In this example, the individual actions performedby user ‘A’ 702 to download the data file, including the use of one ormore user authentication factors 606 for user authentication, are entitybehavior elements that constitute an entity behavior. In certainembodiments, the user/device 730 interactions may include an interactionbetween a user, such as user ‘A’ 702 or ‘B’ 772, and an endpoint device304.

In certain embodiments, the user/device 730 interaction may includeinteraction with an endpoint device 304 that is not connected to anetwork at the time the interaction occurs. As an example, user ‘A’ 702or ‘B’ 772 may interact with an endpoint device 304 that is offline,using applications 732, accessing data 734, or a combination thereof, itmay contain. Those user/device 730 interactions, or their result, may bestored on the endpoint device 304 and then be accessed or retrieved at alater time once the endpoint device 304 is connected to the internal 744or external 746 networks. In certain embodiments, an endpoint agent 306may be implemented to store the user/device 730 interactions when theuser device 304 is offline.

In certain embodiments, an endpoint device 304 may be implemented with adevice camera 728. In certain embodiments, the device camera 728 may beintegrated into the endpoint device 304. In certain embodiments, thedevice camera 728 may be implemented as a separate device configured tointeroperate with the endpoint device 304. As an example, a webcamfamiliar to those of skill in the art may be implemented receive andcommunicate various image and audio signals to an endpoint device 304via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface.

In certain embodiments, the device camera 728 may be implemented tocapture and provide user/device 730 interaction information to anendpoint agent 306. In various embodiments, the device camera 728 may beimplemented to provide surveillance information related to certainuser/device 730 or user/user 770 interactions. In certain embodiments,the surveillance information may be used by the security analyticssystem 118 to detect entity behavior associated with a user entity, suchas user ‘A’ 702 or user ‘B’ 772 that may be of analytic utility.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint device 304 may be used tocommunicate data through the use of an internal network 744, an externalnetwork 746, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, theinternal 744 and the external 746 networks may include a public network,such as the Internet, a physical private network, a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), or any combination thereof. In certain embodiments, theinternal 744 and external 746 networks may likewise include a wirelessnetwork, including a personal area network (PAN), based on technologiessuch as Bluetooth. In various embodiments, the wireless network mayinclude a wireless local area network (WLAN), based on variations of theIEEE 802.11 specification, commonly referred to as WiFi. In certainembodiments, the wireless network may include a wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN) based on an industry standard including various 3G, 4Gand 5G technologies.

In certain embodiments, the user/user 770 interactions may includeinteractions between two or more user entities, such as user ‘A’ 702 and‘B’ 772. In certain embodiments, the user/user interactions 770 may bephysical, such as a face-to-face meeting, via a user/device 730interaction, a user/network 742 interaction, a user/resource 748interaction, or some combination thereof. In certain embodiments, theuser/user 770 interaction may include a face-to-face verbal exchange. Incertain embodiments, the user/user 770 interaction may include a writtenexchange, such as text written on a sheet of paper. In certainembodiments, the user/user 770 interaction may include a face-to-faceexchange of gestures, such as a sign language exchange.

In certain embodiments, temporal event information associated withvarious user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, oruser/user 770 interactions may be collected and used to providereal-time resolution of the identity of an entity at a particular pointin time. Those of skill in the art will recognize that many suchexamples of user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, anduser/user 770 interactions are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing isnot intended to limit the spirit, scope or intent of the invention.

In various embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to process certain contextual information in the performanceof certain security analytic operations. As used herein, contextualinformation broadly refers to any information, directly or indirectly,individually or in combination, related to a particular entity behavior.In certain embodiments, entity behavior may include a user entity'sphysical behavior, cyber behavior, or a combination thereof. As likewiseused herein, a user entity's physical behavior broadly refers to anyuser behavior occurring within a physical realm, such as speaking,gesturing, facial patterns or expressions, walking, and so forth. Moreparticularly, such physical behavior may include any action enacted byan entity user that can be objectively observed, or indirectly inferred,within a physical realm. In certain embodiments, the objectiveobservation, or indirect inference, of the physical behavior may beperformed electronically.

As an example, a user may attempt to use an electronic access card toenter a secured building at a certain time. In this example, the use ofthe access card to enter the building is the action and the reading ofthe access card makes the user's physical behaviorelectronically-observable. As another example, a first user mayphysically convey a document to a second user, which is captured by avideo surveillance system. In this example, the physical conveyance ofthe document from the first user to the second user is the action.Likewise, the video record of the conveyance makes the first and seconduser's physical behavior electronically-observable. As used herein,electronically-observable user behavior broadly refers to any behaviorexhibited or enacted by a user entity that can be observed through theuse of an electronic device (e.g., an electronic sensor), a computingdevice or system (e.g., an endpoint 304 or edge 202 device, a physicalsecurity device 754, a system 756, a shared device 758, etc.), computerinstructions (e.g., a software application), or a combination thereof.

Cyber behavior, as used herein, broadly refers to any behavior occurringin cyberspace, whether enacted by an individual user, a group of users,or a system acting at the behest of an individual user, a group ofusers, or other entity. More particularly, cyber behavior may includephysical, social, or mental actions that can be objectively observed, orindirectly inferred, within cyberspace. As an example, a user may use anendpoint device 304 to access and browse a particular website on theInternet. In this example, the individual actions performed by the userto access and browse the website constitute a cyber behavior. As anotherexample, a user may use an endpoint device 304 to download a data filefrom a particular system 756 at a particular point in time. In thisexample, the individual actions performed by the user to download thedata file, and associated temporal information, such as a time-stampassociated with the download, constitute a cyber behavior. In theseexamples, the actions are enacted within cyberspace, in combination withassociated temporal information, which makes themelectronically-observable.

In certain embodiments, the contextual information may include locationdata 736. In certain embodiments, the endpoint device 304 may beconfigured to receive such location data 736, which is used as a datasource for determining the user's location 618. In certain embodiments,the location data 736 may include Global Positioning System (GPS) dataprovided by a GPS satellite 738. In certain embodiments, the locationdata 736 may include location data 736 provided by a wireless network,such as from a cellular network tower 740. In certain embodiments (notshown), the location data 736 may include various Internet Protocol (IP)or other network address information assigned to the endpoint 304 oredge 202 device. In certain embodiments (also not shown), the locationdata 736 may include recognizable structures or physical addresseswithin a digital image or video recording.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint devices 304 may include an inputdevice (not shown), such as a keypad, magnetic card reader, tokeninterface, biometric sensor, and so forth. In certain embodiments, suchendpoint devices 304 may be directly, or indirectly, connected to aparticular facility 752, physical security device 754, system 756, orshared device 758. As an example, the endpoint device 304 may bedirectly connected to an ingress/egress system, such as an electroniclock on a door or an access gate of a parking garage. As anotherexample, the endpoint device 304 may be indirectly connected to aphysical security device 754 through a dedicated security network.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to perform various risk-adaptive protection operations.Risk-adaptive, as used herein, broadly refers to adaptively respondingto risks associated with an electronically-observable entity behavior.In various embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to perform certain risk-adaptive protection operations bymonitoring certain entity behaviors, assess the corresponding risk theymay represent, individually or in combination, and respond with anassociated response. In certain embodiments, such responses may be basedupon contextual information, described in greater detail herein,associated with a given entity behavior.

In certain embodiments, various information associated with a userentity profile 602, likewise described in greater detail herein, may beused to perform the risk-adaptive protection operations. In certainembodiments, the user entity profile 602 may include user profileattributes 604, user behavior factors 610, user mindset factors 622, ora combination thereof. In these embodiments, the information associatedwith a user entity profile 602 used to perform the risk-adaptiveprotection operations is a matter of design choice.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented as a stand-alone system. In certain embodiments, thesecurity analytics system 118 may be implemented as a distributedsystem. In certain embodiment, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented as a virtual system, such as an instantiation of one or morevirtual machines (VMs). In certain embodiments, the security analyticssystem 118 may be implemented as a security analytics service 764. Incertain embodiments, the security analytics service 764 may beimplemented in a cloud environment familiar to those of skill in theart. In various embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may usedata stored in a repository of security analytics data 680, entitybehavior catalog data 690, entity identifier data 670, and event data672, or a combination thereof, in the performance of certain securityanalytics operations, described in greater detail herein. Those of skillin the art will recognize that many such embodiments are possible.Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope orintent of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a simplified block diagram showing the mapping of an event toa security vulnerability scenario implemented in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, an entity behaviorcatalog (EBC) system 120 may be implemented to identify a securityrelated activity, described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, the security related activity may be based upon anobservable, likewise described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, the observable may include event information correspondingto electronically-observable behavior enacted by an entity. In certainembodiments, the event information corresponding toelectronically-observable behavior enacted by an entity may be receivedfrom an electronic data source, such as the event data sources 810 shownin FIGS. 8 and 14.

In certain embodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein,the EBC system 120 may be implemented to identify a particular event ofanalytic utility by analyzing an associated security related activity.In certain embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented togenerate entity behavior catalog data based upon an identified event ofanalytic utility associated with a particular security related activity.In various embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented toassociate certain entity behavior data it may generate with apredetermined abstraction level, described in greater detail herein.

In various embodiments, the EBC system 120 may be implemented to usecertain EBC data 690 and an associated abstraction level to generate ahierarchical set of entity behaviors 870, described in greater detailherein. In certain embodiments, the hierarchical set of entity behaviors870 generated by the EBC system 120 may represent an associated securityrisk, likewise described in greater detail herein. Likewise, asdescribed in greater detail herein, the EBC system 120 may beimplemented in certain embodiments to store the hierarchical set ofentity behaviors 870 and associated abstraction level information withina repository of EBC data 690. In certain embodiments, the repository ofEBC data 690 may be implemented to provide an inventory of entitybehaviors for use when performing a security operation, likewisedescribed in greater detail herein.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the EBC system 120 may be implemented invarious embodiments to receive certain event information, described ingreater detail herein, corresponding to an event associated with anentity interaction. As used herein, event information broadly refers toany information directly or indirectly related to an event. As likewiseused herein, an event broadly refers to the occurrence of at least oneaction performed by an entity. In certain embodiments, the at least oneaction performed by an entity may include the enactment of an entitybehavior, described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments,the entity behavior may include an entity's physical behavior, cyberbehavior, or a combination thereof, as likewise described in greaterdetail herein.

Likewise, as used herein, an entity interaction broadly refers to anaction influenced by another action enacted by an entity. In certainembodiments, an entity interaction includes when an event enacted by afirst entity is correlated with an event enacted by another entity. Asan example, a first user entity may perform an action, such as sending atext message to a second user entity, who in turn replies with aresponse. In this example, the second user entity's action of respondingis influenced by the first user entity's action of sending the textmessage. In certain embodiments, an entity interaction may include theoccurrence of at least one event enacted by one entity when interactingwith another, as described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, an event associated with an entity interaction may includeat least one entity attribute, described in greater detail herein, andat least one entity behavior, likewise described in greater detailherein.

In certain embodiments, an entity attribute and an entity behavior maybe respectively abstracted to an entity attribute 872 and an entitybehavior 874 abstraction level. In certain embodiments, an entityattribute 872 and an entity behavior 874 abstraction level may then beassociated with an event 876 abstraction level. In certain embodiments,the entity attribute 872, entity behavior 874, and event 876 abstractionlevels may in turn be associated with a corresponding entity behaviorhierarchy 870, as described in greater detail herein.

In various embodiments, the event information may be received fromcertain event data sources 810, such as a user 802 entity, an endpoint804 non-user entity, a network 806 non-user entity, or a system 808non-user entity. In certain embodiments, one or more events may beassociated with a particular entity interaction. As an example, as shownin FIG. 8, one or more events i+n 812 may be associated with auser/device 730 interaction between a user 802 entity and an endpoint804 non-user entity. Likewise, one or more events j+n 814 may beassociated with a user/network 742 interaction between a user 802 entityand a network 806 non-user entity. As likewise shown in FIG. 8, one ormore events k+n 916 816 may be associated with a user/resource 748interaction between a user 802 entity and a system 808 non-user entity.

In certain embodiments, details of an event, such as events i+n 812, j+n814, and k+n 816, may be included in their associated event information.In various embodiments, as described in greater detail herein, analyticutility detection operations may be performed on such event informationto identify events of analytic utility. In various embodiments, certainevent information associated with an event determined to be of analyticutility may be used to derive a corresponding observable. As usedherein, an observable broadly refers to an event of analytic utilitywhose associated event information may include entity behavior that maybe anomalous, abnormal, unexpected, malicious, or some combinationthereof, as described in greater detail herein.

As an example, the details contained in the event informationrespectively corresponding to events i+n 812, j+n 814, and k+n 816 maybe used to derive observables i+n 822, j+n 824, and k+n 826. In certainembodiments, the resulting observables i+n 822, j+n 824, and k+n 826 maythen be respectively associated with a corresponding observable 878abstraction level. In certain embodiments, the observable 878abstraction level may in turn be associated with a corresponding entitybehavior hierarchy 870, as described in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, the resulting observables may in turn beprocessed to generate an associated security related activity. As usedherein, a security related activity broadly refers to an abstracteddescription of an interaction between two entities, described in greaterdetail herein, which may represent anomalous, abnormal, unexpected, ormalicious entity behavior. For example, observables i+n 822, j+n 824,and k+n 826 may in turn be processed to generate corresponding securityrelated activities i 832, j 834, and k 836. In certain embodiments, theresulting security related activities, i 832, j 834, and k 836 may thenbe respectively associated with a corresponding security relatedactivity 880 abstraction level. In certain embodiments, the securityrelated activity 880 abstraction level may in turn be associated with acorresponding entity behavior hierarchy 870, as described in greaterdetail herein.

In various embodiments, sessionization and fingerprint generationoperations 820, described in greater detail herein, may be performed toassociate certain events, observables, and security related activities,or a combination thereof, with a corresponding session, likewisedescribed in greater detail herein. As an example, events i+n 812, j+n814, k+n 816, observables i+n 822, j+n 824, k+n 826, and securityrelated activities i 832, j 834, k 836 may be associated withcorresponding sessions. In certain embodiments, a security relatedactivity may be processed with associated contextual information,described in greater detail herein, to generate a corresponding EBPelement.

For example, security related activities i 832, j 834, and k 836 may beprocessed with associated contextual information to generatecorresponding EBP elements i 842, j 844, and k 846. In variousembodiments, the resulting EBP elements i 842, j 844, and k 846 may thenbe associated with a corresponding EBP element 882 abstraction level. Incertain embodiments, the EBP element 882 abstraction level may in turnbe associated with a corresponding entity behavior hierarchy 870, asdescribed in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, EBP generation and modification 840 operationsmay be performed to associate one or more EBP elements with a particularEBP 638. As an example, EBP elements i 842, j 844, and k 946 may beassociated with a particular EBP 638, which may likewise be respectivelyassociated with the various entities involved in the user/device 730,user/network 742, or user/resource 748 interactions. In theseembodiments, the method by which the resulting EBP elements i 842, j844, and k 846 are associated with a particular EBP 638 is a matter ofdesign choice. In certain embodiments, the EBP 638 may likewiseassociated with an EBP 884 abstraction level. In certain embodiments,the EBP 884 abstraction level may in turn be associated with acorresponding entity behavior hierarchy 870, as described in greaterdetail herein.

In various embodiments, the resulting EBP 638 may be used in theperformance of security risk use case association 850 operations toidentify one or more security risk use cases that match certain entitybehavior information stored in the EBP 638. As used herein, a securityrisk use case broadly refers to a set of security related activitiesthat create a security risk narrative that can be used to adaptivelydraw inferences, described in greater detail herein, from entitybehavior enacted by a particular entity. In certain of theseembodiments, the entity behavior information may be stored within theEBP 638 in the form of an EBP element, a security related activity, anobservable, or an event, or a combination thereof. In certainembodiments, identified security risk use cases may then be associatedwith a security risk use case 886 abstraction level. In certainembodiments, the security risk use case 886 abstraction level may inturn be associated with a corresponding entity behavior hierarchy 870,as described in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, the results of the security risk use caseassociation 850 operations may in turn be used to perform securityvulnerability scenario inference 860 operations to associate one or moresecurity risk use cases with one or more security vulnerabilityscenarios. As used herein, a security vulnerability scenario broadlyrefers to a grouping of one or more security risk use cases thatrepresent a particular class of security vulnerability. In certainembodiments, the associated security vulnerability scenarios may then beassociated with a security vulnerability scenario 888 abstraction level.In certain embodiments, the security vulnerability scenario 888abstraction level may in turn be associated with a corresponding entitybehavior hierarchy 870, as described in greater detail herein.

In various embodiments, certain event information associated with eventsi+n 812, j+n 814, and k+n 816 and certain observable informationassociated with observables i+n 822, j+n 824, and k+n 826 may be storedin a repository of EBC data 690. In various embodiments, certainsecurity related activity information associated with security relatedactivities i 832, j 834, and k 836 and EBP elements i 842, j 844, and k846 may likewise be stored in the repository of EBC data 690. Likewise,in various embodiments, certain security risk use case association andsecurity vulnerability scenario association information respectivelyassociated with the performance of security risk use case association850 and security vulnerability scenario inference 860 operations may bestored in the repository of EBC data 690.

FIG. 9 is a simplified block diagram of the generation of a session anda corresponding session-based fingerprint implemented in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, an observable906 may be derived from an associated event, as described in greaterdetail herein. In certain embodiments, one or more observables 906 maybe processed to generate a corresponding security related activity 908.In certain embodiments, one or more security related activities 908 maythen be respectively processed to generate a corresponding activitysession 910. In turn, the session 910 may be processed in certainembodiments to generate a corresponding session fingerprint 912. Incertain embodiments, the resulting activity session 910 and itscorresponding session fingerprint 912, individually or in combination,may then be associated with a particular entity behavior profile (EBP)element 980. In certain embodiments the EBP element 980 may in turn beassociated with an EBP 638.

In certain embodiments, intervals in time 904 respectively associatedwith various security related activities 908 may be contiguous. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 9, the intervals in time 904 associated withobservables 906 ‘1’ 914 and ‘2’ 916 may be contiguous. Accordingly, theintervals in time 904 associated with the security related activities908 ‘1’ 918 and ‘2’ 920 respectively generated from observables 906 ‘1’914 and ‘2’ 916 would likewise be contiguous.

As likewise shown in FIG. 9, the resulting security related activities908 ‘1’ 918 and ‘2’ 920 may be processed to generate an associatedactivity session ‘A’ 922, which then may be processed to generate acorresponding session fingerprint ‘A’ 924. In certain embodiments,activity session ‘A’ 922 and its corresponding session fingerprint ‘A’924 may be used to generate a new entity behavior profile (EBP) element980 ‘A’ 926. In certain embodiments, EBP element 980 ‘A’ 926 generatedfrom activity session 910 ‘A’ 922 and its corresponding sessionfingerprint 912 ‘A’ 924 may be associated with an existing EBP 638.

To provide an example, a user may enact various observables 906 ‘1’ 914to update sales forecast files, followed by the enactment of variousobservables 906 ‘2’ 1016 to attach the updated sales forecast files toan email, which is then sent to various co-workers. In this example, theenactment of observables 906 ‘1’ 914 and ‘2’ 916 result in thegeneration of security related activities 908 ‘1’ 918 and ‘2’ 920, whichin turn are used to generate activity session 910 ‘A’ 922. In turn, theresulting activity session 910 ‘A’ 922 is then used to generate itscorresponding session-based fingerprint 912 ‘A’ 924. To continue theexample, activity session 910 ‘A’ 922 is associated with securityrelated activities 908 ‘1’ 918 and ‘2’ 920, whose associated intervalsin time 904 are contiguous, as they are oriented to the updating anddistribution of sales forecast files via email.

Various aspects of the invention reflect an appreciation that a user mayenact certain entity behaviors on a recurring basis. To continue thepreceding example, a user may typically update sales forecast files anddistribute them to various co-workers every morning between 8:00 AM and10:00 AM. Accordingly, the activity session 910 associated with such arecurring activity may result in a substantively similar sessionfingerprint 912 week-by-week. However, a session fingerprint 912 for thesame session 910 may be substantively different should the user happento send an email with an attached sales forecast file to a recipientoutside of their organization. Consequently, a session fingerprint 912that is inconsistent with session fingerprints 912 associated with pastactivity sessions 910 may indicate anomalous, abnormal, unexpected ormalicious behavior.

In certain embodiments, two or more activity sessions 910 may benoncontiguous, but associated. In certain embodiments, an activitysession 910 may be associated with two or more sessions 910. In certainembodiments, an activity session 910 may be a subset of another activitysession 910. As an example, as shown in FIG. 9, the intervals in time904 respectively associated with observables 906 ‘3’ 914 and ‘6’ 932 maybe contiguous. Likewise, the intervals in time 904 associated withobservables 906 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938 may be contiguous.

Accordingly, the intervals in time 904 associated with the securityrelated activities 908 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938 respectively generated fromobservables 906 ‘4’ 928 and ‘5’ 930 would likewise be contiguous.However, the intervals in time 904 associated with security relatedactivities 908 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938 would not be contiguous with theintervals in time respectively associated with security relatedactivities 908 ‘3’ 934 and ‘6’ 940.

As likewise shown in FIG. 9, the resulting security related activities908 ‘3’ 934 and ‘6’ 940 may be respectively processed to generatecorresponding sessions ‘B’ 942 and ‘D’ 946, while security relatedactivities 908 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938 may be processed to generate activitysession 910 ‘C’ 944. In turn, activity sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944,and ‘D’ 946 are then respectively processed to generate correspondingsession-based fingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950 and ‘D’ 952.

Accordingly, the intervals of time 904 respectively associated withactivity sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946, and theircorresponding session fingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950 and ‘D’ 952, arenot contiguous. Furthermore, in this example activity sessions 910 ‘B’942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946, and their corresponding session fingerprints912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950 and ‘D’ 952, are not associated with the EBP 638.Instead, as shown in FIG. 9, activity sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and‘D’ 946 are processed to generate activity session 910 ‘E’ 954 andsession fingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950 and ‘D’ 952 are processed togenerate session fingerprint 912 ‘E’ 956. In certain embodiments,activity session ‘E’ 954 and its corresponding session fingerprint ‘E’956 may be used to generate a new EBP element 980 ‘E’ 958. In certainembodiments, EBP element 980 ‘E’ 958 generated from activity session 910‘E’ 954 and its corresponding session fingerprint 912 ‘E’ 956 may beassociated with an existing EBP 638.

Accordingly, session 910 ‘E’ 1054 is associated with activity sessions910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946. Likewise, sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’944, and ‘D’ 946 are subsets of session 910 ‘E’ 954. Consequently, whilethe intervals of time respectively associated with activity sessions 910‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946, and their corresponding sessionfingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950 and ‘D’ 952 may not be contiguous,they are associated as they are respectively used to generate session910 ‘E’ 954 and its corresponding session fingerprint 912 ‘E’ 1056.

To provide an example, a user plans to attend a meeting scheduled for10:00 AM at a secure facility owned by their organization to review aproject plan with associates. However, the user wishes to arrive earlyto prepare for the meeting. Accordingly, they arrive at 9:00 AM and usetheir security badge to authenticate themselves and enter the facility.In this example, the enactment of observables 906 ‘3’ 926 may correspondto authenticating themselves with their security badge and gainingaccess to the facility. As before, observables 906 ‘3’ 926 may be usedto generate a corresponding security related activity 908 ‘3’ 934. Inturn, the security related activity 908 ‘3’ 934 may then be used togenerate session 910 ‘B’ 942, which is likewise used in turn to generatea corresponding session fingerprint 912 ‘B’ 948.

The user then proceeds to a conference room reserved for the meetingscheduled for 10:00 AM and uses their time alone to prepare for theupcoming meeting. Then, at 10:00 AM, the scheduled meeting begins,followed by the user downloading the current version of the projectplan, which is then discussed by the user and their associate for a halfhour. At the end of the discussion, the user remains in the conferenceroom and spends the next half hour making revisions to the project plan,after which it is uploaded to a datastore for access by others.

In this example, observables 906 ‘4’ 928 may be associated with the userdownloading and reviewing the project plan and observables 906 ‘5’ 930may be associated with the user making revisions to the project plan andthen uploading the revised project plan to a datastore. Accordingly,behavior elements 906 ‘4’ 928 and ‘5’ 930 may be respectively used togenerate security related activities 908 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938. In turn,the security related activities 908 ‘4’ 936 and ‘5’ 938 may then be usedto generate session 910 ‘C’ 944, which may likewise be used in turn togenerate its corresponding session-based fingerprint 912 ‘C’ 950.

To continue the example, the user may spend the next half hourdiscussing the revisions to the project plan with a co-worker.Thereafter, the user uses their security badge to exit the facility. Incontinuance of this example, observables 906 ‘6’ 932 may be associatedwith the user using their security badge to leave the secure facility.Accordingly, observables 906 ‘6’ 932 may be used to generate acorresponding security related activity 908 ‘6’ 940, which in turn maybe used to generate a corresponding session 910 ‘D’ 946, which likewisemay be used in turn to generate a corresponding session fingerprint 912‘D’ 952.

In this example, the intervals of time 904 respectively associated withactivity sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946, and theircorresponding session fingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950, and ‘D’ 952,are not contiguous. However they may be considered to be associated astheir corresponding observables 906 ‘3’ 926, ‘4’ 928, ‘5’ 930, and ‘6’932 all have the common attribute of having been enacted within thesecure facility. Furthermore, security related activities 908 ‘4’ 936and ‘5’ 938 may be considered to be associated as their correspondingobservables 906 have the common attribute of being associated with theproject plan.

Accordingly, while the intervals of time 904 respectively associatedwith activity sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946, and theircorresponding session-based fingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950, and ‘D’952, may not be contiguous, they may be considered to be associated.Consequently, sessions 910 ‘B’ 942, ‘C’ 944, and ‘D’ 946 may beconsidered to be a subset of session 910 ‘E’ 954 and session-basedfingerprints 912 ‘B’ 948, ‘C’ 950, and ‘D’ 952 may be considered to be asubset of session-based fingerprint 912 ‘E’ 956.

In certain embodiments, the interval of time 904 corresponding to afirst activity session 910 may overlap an interval of time 904corresponding to a second activity session 910. For example, observables906 ‘7’ 958 and ‘8’ 960 may be respectively processed to generatesecurity related activities 908 ‘7’ 962 and ‘8’ 964. In turn, theresulting security related activities 908 ‘7’ 962 and ‘8’ 964 arerespectively processed to generate corresponding activity sessions 910‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968. Sessions The resulting activity sessions 910 ‘F’966 and ‘G’ 968 are then respectively processed to generatecorresponding session-based fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972.

However, in this example activity sessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968, andtheir corresponding session fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972, arenot associated with the EBP 638. Instead, as shown in FIG. 9, activitysessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968 are processed to generate activitysession 910 ‘E’ 954 and session fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972 areprocessed to generate session fingerprint 912 ‘H’ 976. In certainembodiments, activity session ‘H’ 974 and its corresponding sessionfingerprint ‘H’ 976 may be used to generate a new EBP element 980 ‘H’978. In certain embodiments, EBP element 980 ‘H’ 978 generated fromactivity session 910 ‘E’ 974 and its corresponding session fingerprint912 ‘E’ 976 may be associated with an existing EBP 638.

Accordingly, the time 904 interval associated with activity session 910‘F’ 966 and its corresponding session fingerprint 912 ‘F’ 970 overlapswith the time interval 904 associated with activity session 910 ‘G’ 968and its corresponding session fingerprint 912 ‘G’ 972. As a result,activity sessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968 are subsets of activitysession 910 ‘H’ 974. Consequently, while the intervals of timerespectively associated with activity sessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968,and their corresponding session fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972 mayoverlap, they are associated as they are respectively used to generateactivity session 910 ‘H’ 974 and its corresponding session fingerprint912 ‘H’ 976.

To provide an example, a user may decide to download various images forplacement in an online publication. In this example, observables 906 ‘7’958 may be associated with the user iteratively searching for, anddownloading, the images they wish to use in the online publication.However, the user may not begin placing the images into the onlinepublication until they have selected and downloaded the first few imagesthey wish to use.

To continue the example, observables 906 ‘8’ may be associated with theuser placing the downloaded images in the online publication.Furthermore, the placement of the downloaded images into the onlinepublication may begin a point in time 904 subsequent to when the userbegan to download the images. Moreover, the downloading of the imagesmay end at a point in time 904 sooner than when the user completes theplacement of the images in the online publication.

In continuance of the example, observables 906 ‘7’ 958 and ‘8’ 960 maybe respectively processed to generate security related activities 908‘7’ 962 and ‘8’ 964, whose associated intervals of time 904 overlap oneanother. Accordingly, the intervals in time 904 associated with activitysessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968 will likewise overlap one another asthey are respectively generated from security related activities 908 ‘7’962 and ‘8’ 964.

Consequently, while the intervals of time 904 respectively associatedwith activity sessions 910 ‘F’ 966 and ‘G’ 968, and their correspondingsession fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972, may overlap, they may beconsidered to be associated as they both relate to the use of images forthe online publication. Accordingly, activity sessions 910 ‘F’ 1066 and‘G’ 968 may be considered to be a subset of activity session 910 ‘H’ 974and session fingerprints 912 ‘F’ 970 and ‘G’ 972 may be considered to bea subset of session fingerprint 912 ‘H’ 976.

FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram showing a plurality of eventcounter time periods used in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention to detect an anomalous event. As used herein, an event counterbroadly refers to a numeric representation of the number of occurrencesof a particular event, or class of endpoint events. Likewise, as usedherein, an event counter time period broadly refers to a period of timeduring which an event counter counts, or otherwise tracks, theoccurrence of a particular event, or class of events. As likewise usedherein, an anomalous event broadly refers to any event whose occurrencemay be out of the ordinary, unanticipated or otherwise unexpected.

In various embodiments, certain anomalous event detection operations,described in greater detail herein, may be performed during an anomalousevent baseline time period 1060 to detect an anomalous event. As usedherein, an anomalous event baseline time period 1060 broadly refers to aperiod of time during which anomalous event detection operations areperformed. In these embodiments, the duration of the anomalous eventbaseline time period 1060 is a matter of design choice. As an example,the anomalous event baseline time period 1060 may be a sliding windowimplemented for a predetermined period of time to identify and omitfalse positives of anomalous behavior by an associated entity. Incertain embodiments, the predetermined period of time is a matter ofdesign choice. As an example, it may be one or more hours, one or moredays, one or more weeks, one or more months, and so forth.

In certain embodiments, an anomalous event baseline time period 1060 maybe associated with one or more event counter time periods. In certainembodiments, an event counter time period may be implemented to be aperiod of time that is less than, or equal to, an associated anomalousevent baseline time period 1060. In certain embodiments, two or moreevent counter periods associated with a particular anomalous eventbaseline time period 1060 may be implemented to have the same durationof time (e.g., 24 hours, one week, and so forth).

In various embodiments, a certain sequence of event counter time periodsmay be selected for association with a particular anomalous eventbaseline time period 1060. In certain embodiments, the sequence of eventcounter time periods may be consecutive, or contiguous, or a combinationthereof. In these embodiments, the event counter time periods selectedto be associated with a particular anomalous event baseline time period,and the duration of their corresponding periods of time, is a matter ofdesign choice.

In certain embodiments, an event counter time period (e.g. ‘P1’ 1010 and‘P2’ 1020 through ‘Px’ 1030) may be implemented to be respectivelyassociated with one or more event counter intervals. In certainembodiments, an event counter interval may be implemented to be aninterval of time that is less than, or equal to, an associated eventcounter time period. In certain embodiments, two or more event counterintervals associated with a particular event counter time period may beimplemented to have the same duration of time (e.g., one minute, onehour, one day, and so forth).

In various embodiments, a certain sequence of event counter intervalsmay be selected for association with a particular event counter timeperiod. In certain embodiments, the sequence of event counter intervalsmay be consecutive, or contiguous, or a combination thereof. In theseembodiments, the event counter intervals selected to be associated witha particular event counter time period, and the duration of theircorresponding intervals of time, is a matter of design choice.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, event counter time period ‘P1’ 1010may be associated with event counter intervals ‘1a’ 1004 and ‘1b’ 1006through ‘1n’ 1008. Likewise, event counter time periods ‘P2’ 1020through ‘Px’ 1030 may respectively be associated with event counterintervals ‘2a’ 1014 and ‘2b’ 1016 through ‘2n 1018, through intervals‘xa’ 1024 and ‘xb’ 1026 through ‘xn 1028. In this example, event countertime periods ‘P1’ 1010 and ‘P2’ 1020 through ‘Px’ 1030 may each have anassociated time period of twenty four hours. Likewise, event counterintervals ‘1a’ 1004 and ‘1b’ 1006 through ‘1n’ 1008, as well asintervals ‘2a’ 1014 and ‘2b’ 1016 through ‘2n 1018, through intervals‘xa’ 1024 and ‘xb’ 1026 through ‘xn 1028 may each have an associatedtime interval of one hour.

To continue the example, event counter intervals ‘1a’ 1004, and ‘1b’1006 through ‘1n’ 1008, where ‘n’=24, may correlate to hours one throughtwenty four of a corresponding twenty four hour time period. Likewise,event counter intervals ‘2a’ 1014, and ‘2b’ 1016 through ‘2n’ 1018,through ‘xa’ 1024, and ‘sb’ 1026 through ‘xn’ 1028, where ‘n’=24, mayrespectively correlate to hours one through twenty four of correspondingtwenty four hour time periods. Accordingly, the time period associatedwith event counter time periods ‘P1’ 1010, and ‘P2’ 1020 through ‘Px’1030 would be 24 hours, or one day.

In certain embodiments, event counter time periods may be implemented asa sequence of event counter time periods. In certain embodiments, thesequence of event counter time periods may be consecutive, orcontiguous, or a combination thereof. As an example, event counter timeperiod ‘P1’ 1010 may be associated with a Monday of a particular week.Likewise counter time periods ‘P2’ 1020 through ‘Px’ 1030, where ‘x’=7,may respectively associated with Tuesday through Sunday of the sameweek.

In certain embodiments, a counter interval may be implemented to beassociated with one or more counter increments 1002 of time. As usedherein, an event counter increment 1002 of time broadly refers to anincrement of time that is less than, or equal to, an associated eventcounter interval. In certain embodiments, two or more event counterincrements 1002 associated with a particular event counter interval maybe implemented to have the same duration of time. As an example, anevent counter increment 1002 of time may be one or more milliseconds,one or more seconds, one or more minutes, one or more hours, and soforth.

In various embodiments, a certain sequence of counter increments 1002 oftime may be selected for association with a particular event counterinterval. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, a first set of counterincrements 1002 of time may be associated with event counter interval‘1a’ 1004, a second set with interval ‘1b’ 1006, and so forth throughinterval ‘1n’ 1008. In these embodiments, the sequence of counterincrements 1002 of time selected to be associated with a particularevent counter time interval, and the duration of their correspondingincrements of time, is a matter of design choice. In certainembodiments, the sequence of counter increments 1002 of time may beconsecutive, or contiguous, or a combination thereof.

As an example, sixty consecutive counter increments 1002 of time, eachwith a duration of one minute, may be selected to be associated withcounter interval ‘1a’ 1004. Accordingly, the duration of event counterinterval ‘1a’ 1004 would be sixty minutes, or one hour. In this example,the same number of consecutive counter increments 1002 of time, eachwith the same duration of time, may be selected for counter intervals‘1b’ 1006 through ‘1n’ 1008. Likewise the same number of consecutivecounter increments 1002 of time, each with the same duration of time,may be selected for counter intervals ‘2a’ 1014, and ‘2b’ 1016 through‘2n’ 1018, through ‘xa’ 1024, and ‘xb’ 1026 through ‘xn’ 1028.Accordingly counter intervals ‘1a’ 1004, and ‘1b’ 1006 through ‘1n’1008, ‘2a’ 1014, and ‘2b’ 1016 through ‘2n’ 1018, through ‘xa’ 1024, and‘xb’ 1026 through ‘xn’ 1028, would all have a duration of 60 minutes, orone hour.

Accordingly, in this example the anomalous event baseline time period1060 may be implemented to be associated with a particular weekcorresponding to counter time periods ‘P1’ 1010, and ‘P2’ 1020 through‘Px’ 1030. Likewise, the occurrence of individual events, or classes ofevents, respectively associated with event counter time periods ‘P1’1010, and ‘P2’ 1020 through ‘Px’ 1030 can be counted, or otherwisetracked, over the week corresponding to the anomalous event baselinetime period 1060. Furthermore, the occurrence of a particular event, orclass of events, can be counted, or otherwise tracked by its associatedevent counter time period, event counter interval, and event counterincrement, or a combination thereof.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that anevent may span two or more event counter time periods. As an example,the enactment of an event may be initiated at the end of one eventcounter time period (e.g., 11:58 PM) and conclude at the beginning of asecond (e.g., 12:02 AM). Certain embodiments of the invention likewisereflect an appreciation that the occurrence of such an event may beanomalous and its detection may be challenging due to it spanning two ormore event counter time periods.

Accordingly, in certain embodiments an event counter may be implementedas a sliding window counter time period. As used herein, a slidingwindow counter time period broadly refers to a period of time duringwhich an event counter counts, or otherwise tracks, a particular event,or class of events, that occur in an event counter interval associatedwith one of two or more discrete event counter time periods. In certainembodiments, a series of sliding window counter time periods may beimplemented to incrementally span a plurality of event counter intervalsrespectively associated with two or more event counter time periods. Inthese embodiments, the event counter intervals selected to be associatedwith a particular sliding window counter time period is a matter ofdesign choice.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10, sliding window counter time period‘w1’ 1040 has been implemented to span event counter intervals ‘1b’ 1006through ‘2a 1014. As likewise shown in FIG. 10, sliding window countertime period ‘w2’ 1042 has been implemented to span event counterintervals prior to, and including, counter intervals ‘1n’ 1008 and ‘2n’1018. Likewise, as shown in FIG. 10, sliding window counter time period‘w3’ 1044 has been implemented to iteratively span event counterintervals ‘2a’ 1014, and so forth, up to counter interval ‘xa’ 1024.

Likewise, sliding window counter time period ‘w4’ 1046 has beenimplemented to iteratively span event counter intervals ‘2b’ 1016, andso forth, up to event counter interval ‘xb 1026. Sliding window countertime period ‘w5’ 1048 has likewise been implemented to span eventcounter intervals ‘2n’ 1018, and so forth, up to event counter interval‘xn’ 1028. Likewise, sliding window counter time period ‘w6’ 1050 hasbeen implemented to span event counter intervals ‘xa’ 1024, and soforth, through event counter interval ‘xn’ 1028.

In certain embodiments, numeric and other data related to the occurrenceof individual events, or classes of events, during a particularanomalous event baseline time period 1060 may be used in the performanceof an anomalous event detection operation. As used herein, an anomalousdetection operation broadly refers to any operation performed, asdescribed in greater detail herein, to detect an anomalous event. Invarious embodiments, certain information corresponding to one or moreentities associated with a particular event, or class of events, maylikewise be used in the performance of an anomalous event detectionoperation. As an example, the amount of data conveyed between two ormore entities during the occurrence of a particular event, or class ofevents, may be used to detect the occurrence of an anomalous event.

In certain embodiments, as described in greater detail herein, one ormore event counters may be implemented on one or more devices, within ananomalous event detection system, or a combination thereof. In certainembodiments, event data collected by an event counter may be persistedin a repository of event data. In certain embodiments, as likewisedescribed in greater detail herein, the event data collected by aparticular event counter may be persistently stored in a repository ofevent data. In certain embodiments, the repository of event data may becentralized or distributed. In these embodiments, the method by whichthe event data is collected, the format in which it is stored, thelocation where it is stored, and the duration of time it is persisted isa matter of design choice.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that eventdata collected by an event counter and temporarily stored in volatilememory, such as an endpoint device's RAM memory, may be lost if theendpoint device is rebooted. Certain embodiments of the inventionlikewise reflect an appreciation that losing such event data as a resultof an endpoint device reboot, regardless of whether the reboot wasintentional or not, may mask anomalous behavior enacted by an associatedentity. Accordingly, in certain embodiments event data collected by aparticular event counter may be stored to non-volatile memory, such as ahard drive or a memory card, as it is collected.

In various embodiments the notation of an event counter may beimplemented to include certain properties or attributes associated withan event. In certain embodiments, such event properties or attributesmay be represented in a JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) document, suchas:

{ “message_type”: “counter”, “counter_type”: “raw_activites”,“user_principal_name”: or other form of user identification likeuser_email_address “full_computer_name”: “LT-12345.websense.com”,“data_channel”: “email”, “activity”: “email_sent”, “destination”:“external_recipients”, in some cases the destination is omitted“total_number_of_events”: 12, “total_size_of_data_kb”: 3254“period_type”: “hour”, “hour_in_the_day”: 21, “day_in_the_month”: 3,“month_in_the_year”: 12, “day_in_the_year”: 337, “period_start_time”:“2019-12-03 21:00:00”, “period_end_time”: “2019-12-03 22:00:00”,“reporting_product”: “endpoint_protection_for_windows”, “period endtime”: “20.05” }

In certain embodiments, notation of an event counter may be implementedin an abbreviated, or abstracted, format, such as:

-   -   DD.hh data_channel/activity/destination <occurrences><size_kb>        As an example, notation of an event counter implemented to track        emails sent to external recipients may be abbreviated, or        abstracted as follows:    -   03.21, email/email_sent/external_recipients, 12, 3254

As another example, notation of event counters implemented to track morethan one class of events associated with an endpoint device's local harddrive may be abbreviated, or abstracted as follows:

03.21, local_hard_drive/data_copied_from_removable_storage, 13, 434203.21, local_hard_drive/data_copied_from_network_share 612, 643254In this example, a data_copied_from_removable_storage event notation mayindicate a potential security-related activity, described in greaterdetail herein, such as possible infection by virus files. Likewise, thedata_copied_from_network_share event notation may indicate a datastockpiling security-related activity.

As yet another example, notation of event counters implemented to trackevents associated with conveying data to certain cloud or webapplications may be abbreviated, or abstracted, as follows:

03.21 web/data_transmission/mail.google.com 3, 5242 03.21web/data_transmission/drive.google. co.il 12, 3254 03.21web/data_transmission/dropbox.com 7, 1274 03.21web/data_transmission/web.whatsapp.com 2, 345

Various embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation thatimplementing an event counter for tracking web-oriented events mayinvolve certain considerations that may not be applicable for certainother event counters or associated data channels. As used herein, a datachannel broadly refers to a method of transmitting or receiving data toor from an endpoint device. Examples of data channels include networks,network shares, an endpoint device's local storage, and removablestorage. In certain embodiments, a data channel may refer to adestination, rather than a method of transmitting or receiving data.

As an example, a web data channel may have hundreds of destinations peruser, and thousands for an organization. In this example, individual website event counters are not necessary for anomalous event detection assuch anomalies are typically based upon categories, or classes, of URLs.Accordingly, web-oriented event counters may be implemented in variousembodiments to track endpoint device interactions with certain URLcategories, or classes, such as gambling sites, social networks, privateemail services, shopping sites, private cloud repositories, businesscloud repositories, job search sites, and so forth.

Various embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that thereare certain situations, such as providing support for shadow informationtechnology (IT) use cases, or investigating a particular user, that mayrequire tracking interactions with individual web sites or URLs.Accordingly, event counters for individual web sites or URLs may beimplemented in various embodiments, in addition to event counterstracking a particular endpoint device's interaction with certain classesof web sites or URLs.

In various embodiments, the event data collected by an event counter maybe stored on a recurring (e.g., every hour), or near-real-time basis. Incertain of these embodiments, the collected event data may be stored inthe following event counter format:

-   -   data_channel/activity/destination        Examples of the implementation of such an event counter format        include:

removable_storage/copy_file_to_removable_storagelocal_hard_drive/copy_file_from_removable_storage_to_local_drivelocal_hard_drive/copy_file_from_network_share_to_local_driveprinting/all_activities/all_destinationsprinting/printing_file/local_printerprinting/printing_file/network_printerprinting/printing_file/file_printersprinting/printing_data/network_printerprinting/printing_data/local_printer printing/printing_data/file_printerweb/data_upload/all_destinations web/data_upload/mail.google.comweb/data_upload/drive.google.co.il web/data_upload/dropbox.comweb/data_upload/web.whatsapp.comweb/data_uplod/category_shopping_web_sitesnetwork_communication/outgoing_traffic/192.168.0.11network_communication/incoming_traffic/192.168.0.11

In certain embodiments, individual event counters may be correlated toan entity hierarchy. As an example, an event counter may be implementedto track the number of files copied to removable storage on a dailybasis for all users who are direct reports of Vitally, an IT manager,and in turn, for all users who are direct reports of Asi, an ITdirector, and likewise in turn for all users who are direct reports ofOfir, a VP of IT. In various embodiments, the sums of certain eventcounters associated with decedents within an entity hierarchy. Forexample, the daily sums of event counters associated with tracking thenumber of files copied to removable media per day may be aggregated forAsi, where Asi is an individual user with eight direct reports. In thisexample, the nine event counters respectively associated with Asi andhis eight direct reports are aggregated.

In certain embodiments, one or more event counters may be associatedwith a particular class of users. In various embodiments, such a classof users may belong to the same organizational hierarchy. In certain ofthese embodiments, the class of users may have the same job title,organizational responsibilities, or exhibit substantively similar entitybehaviors, described in greater detail herein, or a combination thereof.In various embodiments, such a class of users may be individual users,or belong to different organizational hierarchies, or a combinationthereof. In certain of these embodiments, such a class of users may becrowd-sourced.

In certain embodiments, data associated with one or more event countersrespectively associated with individual members of a particular class ofusers may be averaged to generate a representative event counter. Incertain embodiments, one or more such representative event counters maybe implemented to establish an initial behavior model. In certainembodiments, the initial behavior model may be used to detect anomalousbehavior associated with a new member of a particular class of user. Incertain embodiments, such an initial behavior model may be implementedto detect anomalous behavior of a user without the necessity ofobserving the behavior of a new member of a particular class of users,or the use of a new endpoint device by a particular member of such aclass of users, during a learning period, such as twenty to thirty days.Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation thatdetection of such “day zero” anomalous behavior may prove advantageouswhen no a priori knowledge of a particular user's behavior is available.

As an example, a software engineering group may have five softwareengineers, all of which have similar job responsibilities. In thisexample, each of the software engineers may have one or more associatedevent counters. To continue the example, data associated with certainevent counters that are of the same type, or class, may be averaged togenerate a representative event counter. In certain embodiments, one ormore such representative event counters may be combined to generate aninitial behavior model. To continue the example further, the initialbehavior model may then be associated with a new software engineer whenthey join the group. Accordingly, certain behaviors associated with thenew software engineer may be considered anomalous if it is notconsistent with the initial behavior model. Skilled practitioners of theart will recognize that many such embodiments and examples are possible.Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope,or intent of the invention.

FIG. 11 shows a box and whisker plot implemented in accordance with anembodiment of the invention to detect an anomalous event. Skilledpractitioners of the art will be familiar with a box and whisker plot,also referred to as a box plot, which in the field of statistics is anapproach for displaying a five-number statistical summary of anassociated set of data. As typically displayed, the five-numberstatistical summary includes the dataset's minimum, its first quartile,its median, its third quartile, and its maximum. In certain embodiments,a set of event data collected during a particular time period by anevent counter, as described in greater detail herein, may be processedto display an associated five-number statistical summary. In certainembodiments, the resulting five-number statistical summary may be usedto detect an anomalous event, such as a suspicious number of files, or asuspicious total size of files, copied to removable storage on a dailybasis.

For example, as shown in FIG. 11, an event counter may be implemented tocount, or otherwise track, the number of files, and their aggregatesize, copied from a particular endpoint device to removable storage eachday during a particular ten day time period. In this example, each dayin the ten day time period may be considered an individual event countertime period and the ten day time period may likewise be considered ananomalous event baseline time period 1160, as described in thedescriptive text associated with FIG. 10. To continue the example, thenumber of files copied to removable storage each day during theanomalous event baseline time period may respectively be ‘3’, ‘4’, ‘0’,‘0’, ‘5’, ‘3’, ‘12’, ‘361’, ‘3’, and ‘0’ for days one through ten, witha corresponding daily total file size of ‘4,007’, ‘200’, ‘0’, ‘0’,‘125’, ‘3,456’, ‘541’, ‘5,698’, ‘20’, and ‘0’.

To continue the example further, a numeric representation of the normal,or typical, number of files copied from the endpoint device to removablestorage on a daily basis is determined by first removing outlier valuesin the set of event data. In this example, the first step in doing so isto reorder the number of files copied to removable storage from lowestto highest, as follows:

-   -   ∅ ∅ ∅ 3 3 3 4 5 12 361

Once the event data set has been reordered, numbers whose numeric valuedo not fall in the 25% to 75% range of the data set, also referred to asthe middle 50% range, are disregarded. Assuming 2n, or 2n+1, numbers inthe reordered dataset of event data, then:

Q₁ represents the 25% point, which is the median of the n smallestnumbers, and

Q₃ represents the 75% point, which is the median of the n largestnumbers Accordingly,

Q1, the median of then smallest numbers (∅ ∅ ∅ 3 3)=∅, and

Q3, the median of then largest numbers (3 4 5 12 361)=5 likewise,

the middle 50% range (∅ ∅ ∅ 3 3 3 4 5 12 361) is ∅ 3 3 3 4 5:

Next, the average of the middle 50% range of the reordered data set ofevent data is calculated as follows:

the average=(∅+3+3+3+4+5)/6=18/6=3,

and by using the formula known to those of skill in the art fordetermining a population standard deviation:

the standard deviation=1.67

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that thestandard deviation identifies the dispersion, or spread, of theobservations around the average of the middle 50% range of the reordereddata set of event data. Accordingly, it can provide a reasonableindication of how well the average represents the normal, or typical,number of files copied to removable storage on a daily basis.

Referring now to the box and whiskers plot 1100 shown in FIG. 11, thenumeric value of the minimum 1104 number of daily events 1102 during theanomalous event baseline time period 1160 is 0. Likewise, the maximum1112 number of daily events 1102 during the same anomalous eventbaseline time period 1160 is 361. As likewise shown in FIG. 11, themiddle 50% range 1114 of the reordered data set is defined by Q1 1106,which has a numeric value of 0, and Q3, which has a numeric value of 5.Accordingly, the average 1110 of the middle 50% range 1114 has a numericvalue of 3.

In this example, the foregoing may be used as a baseline set of numbersto statistically detect anomalous events in subsequent event countertime periods, such as the current number of daily events 1116 shown inFIG. 11. In certain embodiments, the number of deviations of the numberof events counted, or otherwise tracked, during a particular eventcounter period from the average of the middle 50% range 1114 may be usedto detect an anomalous event.

To continue the preceding example, 275 files may have been copied toremovable media in the current 24 hour event counter time period 1116.Accordingly:

number of files copied=275

middle 50% range average=3

standard deviation=1.67

files copied in current event counter time period=275

number of deviations=(275−3)/1.67=162

Accordingly, 162 deviations from the mean likely indicates theoccurrence of an anomalous event in the current 24 hour event countertime period 1116. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect anappreciation that the number of such deviations from the average of themiddle 50% range indicating the occurrence of an anomalous event is amatter of design choice. As an example, an observation of 15 filescopied to removable storage during a particular 24 hour event countertime period, which is 7.2 deviations from the average (15−3)/1.67=7.2may simply be considered a fluctuation in entity behavior.

FIG. 12 shows an event risk severity scale used in the performance ofsecurity risk scoring operations implemented in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. As used herein, a security risk scoringoperation broadly refers to any operation associated with the generationof a risk score associated with the occurrence of a particular anomalousevent. In various embodiments the risk score may be implemented as arisk severity score. In certain of these embodiments the risk severityscore may be used to provide a quantitative indicator of the riskcorresponding to the occurrence of a particular anomalous event at aparticular point in time. In certain of these embodiments, the riskseverity score may be used to provide a quantitative indicator of thesecurity risk associated with a particular entity at a particular pointin time.

Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciation that it islikely that different organizations will have correspondingly differenttolerances for risk. A risk level that is acceptable for oneorganization may not be acceptable for another, and vice-versa. Variousembodiments of the invention likewise reflect an appreciation that thenumber of deviations of a particular event from the average of themiddle 50% range of a particular anomalous event baseline time periodmay prove helpful in detecting the occurrence of an anomalous event.Accordingly, in certain embodiments, an event risk severity scale 1200may be implemented to use the number of such deviations to indicate therisk severity of a particular event.

For example, as shown in FIG. 12, the event risk severity score 1202 ofa particular event may be graphically correlated to the number of itsdeviations from the average of the middle 50% range of an associatedanomalous event baseline time period. To continue the example, aslikewise shown in FIG. 12, event risk severity categories 1222 of noise1206, aggregation 1208, low 1210, medium 1212, high 1214, and critical1216 may respectively correspond to 5, 10, 20, 50, and 80 deviations1204. In these embodiments, the nomenclature used to describe the eventrisk severity score 1202 of a particular event risk severity category1222, the number of such categories 1222, and the number of deviations1204 associated with each, is a matter of design choice.

FIG. 13 shows a simplified block diagram of example source entities anddestination entities associated with certain entity interactionsperformed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In certainembodiments, an entity interaction may entail the occurrence of one ormore events, as described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, the source 1302 entity and destination 1342 entity may beeither a user entity, a non-user entity, or a data entity, as likewisedescribed in greater detail herein.

For example, as shown in FIG. 13, the source 1302 entity may be a dataentity 1304 or a user entity 1306. Likewise, the source 1302 entity maybe a non-user entity such as corporate cloud storage 1308, a web site1310, a corporate email system 1312, an endpoint 1314 device, anendpoint application 1316, a network share 1318, a shared folder 1320, aSoftware as a Service (SaaS) service 1322, a collaboration platform1324, or removable media 1326. To continue the example, the destination1342 entity may be another data entity 1344 or another user entity 1346.Likewise, the destination 1342 entity may be a non-user entity such aspersonal cloud storage 1348, another web site 1350, a private emailsystem 1352, an unmanaged endpoint 1354, an unsanctioned endpointapplication 1356, another network share 1358, another shared folder1360, an unsanctioned SaaS service 1362, an instant messaging system1364, another removable media 1366. or a printer 1368. Skilledpractitioners of the art will recognize that many such examples ofsource 1302 and destination 1342 entities are possible. Accordingly, theforegoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope, or intent of theinvention.

FIGS. 14a through 14f show examples of entity interaction maps resultingfrom the performance of one or more security analytics mappingoperations implemented in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. In certain embodiments, one or more security analyticsmapping operations may be performed to generate an entity interactionmap, such as those shown in FIGS. 14a through 14f . As used herein, anentity interaction map broadly refers to a representation of theconcatenation of two or more correlated entity interactions, describedin greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, an entity interaction map may be implementedsuch that each of its associated entity interactions entail interactionwith a common data entity, or a derivative thereof. In certainembodiments, an entity interaction map may be implemented such that eachof its associated entity interactions include at least one user ornon-entity entity associated with the previous user entity interactionof the entity interaction map. In certain embodiments, therepresentation of correlated entity interactions may be implemented as adata mapping structure. In certain embodiments, the data mappingstructure may be implemented as a two-dimensional graph-like structure.

In certain embodiments, an entity interaction map may be implemented toprovide a historical mapping of the conveyance of data from one entityto another over a predetermined period of time. In certain embodiments,the historical mapping may show the conveyance of data from a sourceentity to one or more intermediate entities before it is eventuallyconveyed to a destination entity. As used herein, conveyance of databroadly refers to the transfer of data, or a derivative thereof, fromone entity to another. In certain embodiments, an entity interaction mapmay be implemented, as described in greater detail herein, to detect theoccurrence of one or more anomalous events associated with theconveyance of data from one entity to another.

In certain embodiments, an entity interaction map may be implemented toestablish a chain of data custody. As used herein, a chain of datacustody broadly refers to a chronological record of the sequence ofcustody, control, and disposition of data, or a derivative thereof, asit is conveyed from one entity to another over time. As likewise usedherein, data custody broadly refers to a state of possession of the databy a user or non-user entity, whether such a state of possession isdirect or indirect. As an example, data may be directly stored in anon-user entity, such as a cloud storage facility or removable media, orindirectly stored in a non-user entity, such as the main memory of anendpoint device.

In certain embodiments, an entity interaction map may be implemented totrack the conveyance of data from one entity to another as eachconveyance occurs. In certain embodiments, an entity interaction map maybe implemented to provide a historical mapping of the conveyance of datafrom one entity to another after such conveyances have occurred. Incertain embodiments, data conveyed from a first entity to a secondentity during an entity interaction may include associated information,described in greater detail herein, that uniquely identifies the data.

In certain embodiments, the information that uniquely identifies thedata may be entity reference information, described in greater detailherein. In certain embodiments, data conveyed from a first entity to asecond entity during an entity interaction may not be altered. Incertain embodiments, data conveyed from a first entity to a secondentity during an entity interaction may be altered by the first entityprior to it being conveyed to the second entity. In certain embodiments,data conveyed from a first entity to a second entity during an entityinteraction may be altered by the second entity after it has beenconveyed by the first entity.

In various embodiments, data conveyed from a first entity to a secondentity during an entity interaction may not be conveyed in its entirety.Instead, only a predetermined portion of the data may be conveyed fromthe first entity to the second entity. In certain of these embodiments,the portion of data conveyed during an entity interaction may beimplemented to include at least one data element of the data availableto be conveyed from the first entity to a second entity. In variousembodiments, two or more sets of data may be combined by a first entityprior to its conveyance to a second entity during an entity interaction.In certain of these embodiments, the two or more sets of data mayindividually be a complete set of data, or respectively a portionthereof.

In certain embodiments, data conveyed from a first entity to a secondentity during an entity interaction may be renamed by the first entityprior to its conveyance to a second entity. In various embodiments, datareceived by a second entity from a first entity may be used as inputdata. In certain of these embodiments, the input data may be processedto generate output data. In certain embodiments, the resulting outputdata may not include any of the input data. In certain embodiments, theresulting output data may be named differently than the input data.

In various embodiments, certain identifying information associated withone or more data elements of the input data may be included in theoutput data, even if the resulting output data is named differently thanthe input data, contain none of the input data, or a combinationthereof. Certain embodiments of the invention reflect an appreciationthat the ability to include such identifying information in the outputdata is advantageous when tracking the source of data conveyed, directlyor indirectly, from one entity to another, even if the original inputdata is not present in the output data.

In certain embodiments, the data provided by a first entity to a secondentity during an entity interaction may be in the form of structuredcontent, unstructured content, or a combination thereof. In certainembodiments, the data may be parsed to identify associated terms. Incertain embodiments, the identified terms may be of analytical utility,described in greater detail herein.

As used herein, a term broadly refers to a word, compound word, phraseexpression, numeric value, or alphanumeric string, which in certaincontexts is associated with a particular meaning. As likewise usedherein, a phrase broadly refers to a sequence of terms, or multi-words,familiar to skilled practitioners of the art. In certain embodiments, aterm may be associated with an event, a feature of an event, aclassification label, a metadata tag label, or a combination thereof.

As used herein, a feature, as it relates to an event, broadly refers toa property, characteristic, or attribute of a particular event. As anexample, features associated with a text-oriented messages (e.g., SMS,email, social network messages, etc.) may be generated by removinglow-value words (i.e., stopwords), using certain size blocks of words(i.e., n-grams), or applying various text processing rules. Examples offeatures associated with an event may include the number of bytesuploaded, the time of day, the presence of certain terms in unstructuredcontent, the respective domains associated with senders and recipientsof information, and the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) classification ofcertain web page visits.

In certain embodiments, such features may be used, individually or incombination, as identifying information associated with one or more dataelements of input data. In certain embodiments, such features maylikewise be associated with anomalous, abnormal, unexpected or malicioususer behavior enacted by a particular entity, as described in greaterdetail herein. Likewise, such features may be used in certainembodiments to identify one or more entities involved in a particularentity interaction. In certain embodiments, such features may likewisebe used, individually or in combination, to generate an entityinteraction map, such as those shown in FIGS. 14a through 14 f.

In certain embodiments, such entity information may include entityfeature information, entity attribute information, or a combinationthereof. As used herein, entity feature information broadly refers toinformation commonly used to perform analysis operations associated withentity models. As likewise used herein, entity attribute informationbroadly refers to structured information associated with a particularentity. In certain embodiments, entity attribute information may includeone or more attribute types. An attribute type, as likewise used herein,broadly refers to a class of attributes, such as a Boolean attributetype, a double attribute type, a string attribute type, a date attributetype, and so forth.

As used herein, a Boolean attribute type broadly refers to a type ofBoolean operator, familiar to those of skill in the art, associated witha particular event or associated entity. Known examples of such Booleanoperator types include conjunction, disjunction, exclusive disjunction,implication, biconditional, negation, joint denial, and alternativedenial. In certain embodiments, a Boolean event attribute type may beimplemented to simplify data management operations. As an example, itmay be more efficient to associate a biconditional Boolean eventattribute having values of “true” and “false” to an event data fieldnamed “Privileges,” rather than assigning the values “Privileged” and“Nonprivileged.”

As used herein, a double attribute type broadly refers to a type ofattribute that includes a numeric value associated with a particularentity or event. In certain embodiments, a double attribute type may beimplemented for the performance of range searches for values, such asvalues between 10 and 25. In certain embodiments, a double attributetype may be implemented to configure numeric data field features, suchas identifying unusually high or unusually low numeric values. Incertain embodiments, a double attribute type may be implemented tocreate event models that aggregate by the max or sum of various eventattribute values.

As used herein, a string attribute type broadly refers to a type ofattribute that includes a string of characters associated with an entityor an event. In certain embodiments, a string attribute type may includetext characters, numeric values, mathematical operators (e.g., ‘+’, ‘*’,etc.), or a combination thereof. As an example, a string attribute mayfor an entity data field named “Participants” may include the characterstring “2 hosts+3 assistants+37 attendees.” In certain embodiments, astring attribute type may be implemented to search for partial matchesof a particular value, such as a reference to a “java” file.

As used herein, a date attribute type broadly refers to a type ofattribute that contains a natural date associated with an entity or anevent. In certain embodiments, the representation or format of aparticular date (e.g., Mar. 15, 2018, 3/15/2018, etc.), or time (e.g.,1:07 PM, 13:07:23, etc.) is a matter of design choice. In certainembodiments, a date attribute type may be implemented to performsearches for a particular date, a particular time, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, a date attribute type may beimplemented to perform searches for a range of dates, a range of time,or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the event information may include event contentinformation, event timestamp information, event attachment information,event reference information, or a combination thereof. As used herein,event content information broadly refers to an unstructured body of textassociated with a particular event. As an example, the main body of acommunication, such as an email, a Short Message Service (SMS) text, aChat communication, or a Twitter™ Tweet™ contains event contentinformation.

In various embodiments, search operations may be performed on certainevent content information to identify particular information. In certainembodiments, such search operations may include the use of lexiconfeatures familiar to skilled practitioners of the art. In certainembodiments, extraction operations may be performed on the event contentinformation to extract such identified information. In certainembodiments, the event content information may be processed to generatestructured data. In certain embodiments, the event content informationmay be processed to generate an event summary, described in greaterdetail herein. In these embodiments, the method by which the eventcontent information is processed, and the form of the resultingstructured data or event summary is generated, is a matter of designchoice.

As used herein, event timestamp information broadly refers to time anddate information associated with the time and date a particular eventoccurred. Examples of such timestamp information include the time anddate an email was sent, the time and date a user entity logged-in to asystem, the time and date a user entity printed a file, and so forth.Other examples of such timestamp information include the time and date aparticular Data Loss Prevention (DLP) alert was generated, as well asthe time and date the DLP event occurred. Yet other examples of suchtimestamp information include the actual time and date of a particularevent, and the publically-reported time and date of the occurrence ofthe event.

As used herein, event attachment information broadly refers to aseparate body of content having an explicit association with aparticular event. One example of such event attachment informationincludes a file. In certain embodiments, such a file may be anunstructured text file, a structured data file, an audio file, an imagefile, a video file, and so forth. Another example of such eventattachment information includes a hypertext link, familiar to those ofskill in the art, to a separate body of content. In certain embodiments,the linked body of content may include unstructured text, structureddata, image content, audio content, video content, additional hypertextlinks, or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, event attachment information may be ingested andprocessed to identify associated entity and event information, asdescribed in greater detail herein. In various embodiments, the eventattachment information may be processed to determine certain metadata,such as the size of an attached file, the creator of the eventattachment information, the time and date it was created, and so forth.In certain embodiments, search operations may be performed on the eventattachment information to identify certain information associated with aparticular event.

As used herein, event reference information broadly refers toinformation related to commonalities shared between two or more events.As an example, two events may have a parent/child, or chain,relationship, such as that represented by the entity interaction mapsshown in FIGS. 14a through 14f . To further the example, the sending ofa first email may result in the receipt of a second email. In turn, athird email may be sent from the receiver of the second email to a thirdparty. In this example, the event reference information would includethe routing information associated with the first, second and thirdemails, which form an email chain.

In certain embodiments, event information may be processed to generatean event summary. As used herein, an event summary broadly refers to abrief, unstructured body of text that summarizes certain informationassociated with a particular event. In certain embodiments, the eventsummary may be implemented to summarize information associated with anevent. As an example, the subject line of an email may include such anevent summary. In various embodiments, a group of event summaries may besearched during the performance of certain security analyticsoperations, described in greater detail herein, to identify associatedevent information.

In certain embodiments, natural language processing (NLP) and otherapproaches familiar to skilled practitioners of the art may be used toperform the parsing. As an example, event information associated with aparticular training event may include an audio recording of humanlanguage being spoken. In this example, the event information may beprocessed to generate a digital transcript of the recording, which inturn may be parsed to identify certain words it may contain. As anotherexample, the event information may include hand-written text. In thisexample, image recognition approaches familiar to those of skill in theart may be used to convert the hand-written content into a digital form,which in turn may be parsed to identify certain words it may contain.

As yet another example, the event information may include a segment ofunstructured text. In this example, various NLP approaches may be usedto process the unstructured text to extract certain words it may containand then determine synonyms, antonyms, or associated concepts for thosewords. Skilled practitioners of the art will recognize that many suchembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended tolimit the spirit, scope, or intent of the invention.

For example, the entity interaction map 1402 shown in FIG. 14a depicts asource data file 1404 stored 1406 in cloud storage 1408. In thisexample, the source data file 1404 is first shared by 1410 the cloudstorage 1408 to user ‘1’ 1412, who in turn shares 1414 it with user ‘2’1416. To continue the example, the data file 1402 is a data entity, thecloud storage 1406 is a non-user entity, and users ‘1’ 1412 and ‘2’ 1416are both user entities.

To continue the example further, the event of the data file 1402 beingstored 1404 in cloud storage 1406 is a first entity interaction of theentity interaction map 1402. Likewise, the event of the data file 1402being shared 1410 by the cloud storage 1406 with user ‘1’ 1412 is asecond entity interaction of the entity interaction map 1402. Tocontinue the example yet further, the event of user ‘1’ 1412 sharing1414 the data file 1402 with user entity ‘2’ 1414 is a third entityinteraction of the entity interaction map 1402.

As another example, the entity interaction map 1418 shown in FIG. 14bdepicts a source data file 1420 stored 1422 in a network share 1424. Inthis example, the source data file 1420 is first downloaded 1426 by user‘1’ 1428, who then renames 1430 the source data file 1420 to a renameddata file 1432 prior to saving 1434 it to their user device 1436. Tocontinue the example, the source data file 1420 and the renamed datafile 1432 are both data entities, the network share 1424 and user ‘1’device 1436 are both non-user entities, and user ‘1’ 1428 is a userentity.

To continue the example further, the event of the source data file 1420being stored 1422 in the network share 1424 is a first entityinteraction of the entity interaction map 1418. Likewise, the event ofthe source data file 1420 being downloaded 1426 by user ‘1’ 1428 fromthe network share 1424 is a second entity interaction of the entityinteraction map 1418. To continue the example yet further, the event ofuser ‘1’ 1428 renaming 1430 the source data file 1420 to a renamed datafile 1432 is a third entity interaction of the entity interaction map1418. Likewise, the event of user ‘1’ 1428 saving 1434 the renamed datafile 1432 to their user device 1436 is a fourth entity interaction ofthe entity interaction map 1402.

As yet another example, the entity interaction map 1438 shown in FIG.14c depicts a source data file 1440 stored 1442 in a device 1444associated with user ‘1’. In this example, the source data file 1440 isfirst attached 1446 to an email 1448, which is then sent 1450 to user‘2’ 1452, who in turn saves 1454 it to an associated device 1456. Tocontinue the example, the data file 1440 is a data entity, the email1448 and the devices 1444, 1456 respectively associated with user ‘1’and ‘2’ 1452 are non-user entity, and user ‘2’ 1452 is a user entity.

To continue the example further, the event of the source data file 1440being stored 1442 in the device 1444 associated with user ‘1’ is a firstentity interaction of the entity interaction map 1438. Likewise, theevent of the source data file 1440 being attached 1446 to the email 1448is a second entity interaction of the entity interaction map 1438. Tocontinue the example yet further, the event of the email 1448 being sent1450 to user ‘2’ 1452 is a third entity interaction of the entityinteraction map 1438. Likewise, the event of user ‘2’ 1452 saving 1454the email 1448 to their associated device 1456 is a fourth entityinteraction of the entity interaction map 1438.

As yet still another example, the entity interaction map 1458 shown inFIG. 14d depicts a source data file 1460 stored 1462 in a device 1464associated with user ‘1’. In this example, the source data file 1460 isuploaded 1466 to another entity 1468, which in turn saves 1470 thesource data file to a renamed file 1472. To continue the example, thesource data file 1462 and the renamed data file 1472 are both dataentities, while the device 1464 associated with user ‘1’ and the otherentity 1468 are both non-user entities. Those of skill in the art willrecognize that many examples of the other entity 1468 are possible, suchas a cloud host, a network share, a website, a social media platform,other platforms such as those used for collaboration, other devices, andso forth.

To continue the example further, the event of the source data file 1460being stored 1462 in a device 1464 associated with user ‘1’ is a firstentity interaction of the entity interaction map 1458. Likewise, theevent of the source data file 1460 being uploaded 1466 to another entity1468 is a second entity interaction of the entity interaction map 1458.To continue the example yet further, the event of the other entity 1468saving 1470 the source data file 1460 as a renamed data file 1472 is athird entity interaction of the entity interaction map 1402.

To provide another example, the entity interaction map 1474 shown inFIG. 14e depicts a source data file 1476 stored 1478 in a device 1480associated with user ‘1’. In this example, the source data file 1460 isaccessed 1482 by a software application 1484. To continue the example,the source data file 1476 is a data entity, while the device 1480associated with user ‘1’ and the software application 1484 are bothnon-user entities. To continue the example further, the event of thesource data file 1476 being stored 1478 in the device 1480 associatedwith user ‘1’ is a first entity interaction of the entity interactionmap 1474. Likewise, the event of the source data file 1476 beingaccessed 1482 by the software application 1484 is a second entityinteraction of the entity interaction map 1474.

To provide yet another example, the entity interaction map 1486 shown inFIG. 14f depicts a source data file 1488 stored 1490 in a device 1492associated with user ‘1’. In this example, the source data file 1488 isviewed 1482 by a software application 1496. To continue the example, thesource data file 1488 is a data entity, while the device 1492 associatedwith user ‘1’ and the software application 1496 are both non-userentities. To continue the example further, the event of the source datafile 1488 being stored 1490 in the device 1492 associated with user ‘1’is a first entity interaction of the entity interaction map 1486.Likewise, the event of the source data file 1476 being viewed 1494 bythe software application 1496 is a second entity interaction of theentity interaction map 1486. Skilled practitioners of the art willrecognize that many such examples of an entity interaction map arepossible. Accordingly, the foregoing is not intended to limit thespirit, scope, or intent of the invention.

FIG. 15 shows a plurality of example entity interactions implemented inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention to generate an associatedentity interaction map. As described in greater detail herein, two ormore user interactions may be concatenated to generate an associatedentity interaction map. In certain embodiments, an entity interactionmap may be implemented to show individual user interactions that are notconcatenated. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, a first entityinteraction may be performed to store 1504 a source data file 1502 incloud storage 1506. Likewise, a second entity interaction may beperformed to store 1508 the same source data file 1502 in a device 1512associated with user entity ‘1’. In this example, the first and seconduser interactions are shown as individual user interactions.

However, as likewise shown in FIG. 15, a third entity interaction may beperformed to store 1514 the source data file 1502 in a network share1516. Likewise, a fourth entity interaction may be performed by userentity ‘2’ to download 1518 the source data file 1502 from the networkshare 1516. In turn, a fifth entity interaction may be performed by userentity ‘2’ 1520 to save 1522 the source data file 1502 to an associateddevice 1524. In this example, the fifth entity interaction isconcatenated to the fourth entity interaction, which in turn isconcatenated to the third entity interaction.

To continue the example, a sixth entity interaction may be performed byuser entity ‘3’ 1526 to download 1518 the source data file 1502 from thenetwork share 1516. Likewise, a seventh entity interaction may beperformed by user entity ‘3’ 1526 when the save 1528 the source datafile 1502 to an associated device 1530. In turn, an eighth entityinteraction may be performed when the user entity ‘3’ 1526 attaches 1532the source data file 1502 to an email. As likewise shown in FIG. 15, theeighth entity interaction is concatenated to the seventh entityinteraction, which in turn is concatenated to the fourth entityinteraction.

To continue the example further, a ninth entity interaction may beperformed when the email 1534 is sent 1536 to user entity ‘4’ 1538.Likewise, a tenth entity interaction may be performed when user entity‘4’ 1538 saves 1540 the source data file 1502 to an associated device1542. As shown in FIG. 15, the tenth entity interaction is concatenatedto the ninth entity interaction, which in turn is concatenated to theeighth entity interaction.

As likewise shown in FIG. 15, an eleventh entity interaction may beperformed when the email 1534 is sent 1544 to user entity ‘5’ 1546.Likewise, a twelfth entity interaction may be performed by user entity‘5’ 1546 when it saves 1548 the email 1534 to an associated device 1550.To further continue the example, a thirteenth entity interaction may beperformed when user entity ‘5’ 1546 renames 1552 the source data file1502 attached to the email 1534, to generate a renamed data file 1554.Likewise, a fourteenth entity interaction may be performed to save 1556the renamed data file 1554 a device 1558 associated with user entity ‘5’1546. As shown in FIG. 15, the fourteenth entity interaction isconcatenated to the thirteenth entity interaction, which is concatenatedto the twelfth entity interaction, which in turn is concatenated to theeleventh entity interaction, which is likewise concatenated to the tenthentity interaction.

To continue the example further, a fifteenth entity interaction may beperformed when the device 1558 associated with user entity ‘5’ 1546 isused to upload 1560 the renamed data file 1554 to a network share 1562.Likewise, a sixteenth entity interaction may be performed when the samedevice 1558 is used to send 1564 the renamed data file 1554 to a printer1566 so it can be printed. As likewise shown in FIG. 15, both thefifteenth and the sixteenth entity interaction is concatenated to thefourteenth entity interaction.

To continue the example even further, a seventeenth entity interactionmay be performed when the device 1558 associated with user entity ‘5’1546 is used to attach 1568 the renamed data file 1554 to an email 1570.Likewise, an eighteenth entity interaction may be performed when theresulting email 1570 is sent 1572 with its attached renamed data file1554 to user entity ‘6’ 1574. As before, a nineteenth entity interactionmay be performed when user entity ‘6’ 1574 saves 1576 the renamed datafile 1554 attached 1568 to the email 1570 to an associated device 1578.As shown in FIG. 15, the nineteenth entity interaction is concatenatedto the eighteenth entity interaction, which is concatenated to theseventeenth entity interaction, which in turn is concatenated to thefourteenth entity interaction. Certain embodiments of the inventionreflect an appreciation that the concatenation of certain entityinteractions to other entity interactions can provide an entityinteraction map that depicts which user and non-user entities haveinteracted with a particular data entity, and in which sequence.

FIG. 16 shows an entity interaction map implemented in accordance withan embodiment of the invention to trace which entities have previouslyinteracted with data associated with the occurrence of an anomalousevent. In various embodiments, a security analytics mapping operationmay be performed to generate an entity interaction trace 1602. Incertain of these embodiments, the resulting entity interaction trace1602 may be implemented to determine which user and non-user entitieshave previously interacted with a particular data entity, described ingreater detail herein, associated with the occurrence of an anomalousevent.

For example, as described in the descriptive text associated with FIG.15, a nineteenth entity interaction may be performed when user entity‘6’ 1574 saves 1576 the renamed data file 1554 attached 1568 to theemail 1570 to an associated device 1578. In this example, the saving1576 of the renamed data file 1554 attached 1568 to the email 1570 to anassociated device 1578 may be determined to be anomalous. Accordingly,one or more security analytics mapping operations may be performed togenerate an entity interaction trace 1602 to determine which other userand non-user entities have previously interacted with the renamed datafile 1554.

As shown in FIG. 16, the entity interaction trace 1602 resulting fromperformance of associated security analytics mapping operations showsthat the nineteenth, eighteenth, seventeenth, fourteenth, thirteenth,twelfth, eleventh, eighth, seventh, sixth, and third entity interactionsare sequentially concatenated to one another. Accordingly, the entityinteraction trace 1602 shown in FIG. 16 shows that entities 1578,1574,1570,1558, 1554, 1550, 1546, 1534, 1530, 1526, and 1516 havepreviously interacted with the source data file 1502 prior to thedetection of it being associated with the detection of an anomalousevent. Likewise, such interaction raises the possibility that thoseentities that previously interacted with the source data file 1502 maybe directly or indirectly involved in the occurrence of the anomalousevent.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the performance of security analyticsmapping operations performed in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention to generate an entity interaction map. In this embodiment,security analytics mapping operations are begun in step 1702, followedby monitoring operations being performed in step 1704 to detect theoccurrence of an event. A determination is then made in step 1706whether an event has been detected. If not, a determination is made instep 1716 whether to end security analytics mapping operations. If not,then the process is continued, proceeding with step 1704. Otherwise,security analytics mapping operations are ended in step 1718.

However, if it was determined in step 1706 that an event was detected,then event information associated with the detected event is processedin step 1708 to generate an associated entity interaction, described ingreater detail herein. The resulting entity interaction and associatedevent information is then processed in step 1710 to identify itscorrelation to any other entity interaction. A determination is thenmade in step 1712 whether the newly-generated entity interactioncorrelates to any other entity interaction. If so, then thenewly-generated entity interaction is concatenated to the identifiedentity interaction in step 1714 to generate a new entity interactionmap, or further extend an existing one. Thereafter, or if it wasdetermined in step 1712 that the resulting entity interaction does notcorrelate to any other entity interaction, then the process iscontinued, proceeding with step 1716.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the performance security analyticsmapping operations performed in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention to generate an entity interaction trace. In this embodiment,entity interaction trace operations are begun in step 1802, followed bymonitoring operations being performed in step 1804 to detect theoccurrence of an anomalous event. A determination is then made in step1806 whether an anomalous event has been detected. If not, then theprocess is continued, proceeding with step 1804.

Otherwise an entity interaction trace is generated in step 1808, asdescribed in greater detail herein. A determination is then made in step1810 whether to end entity interaction trace operations. If not, thenthe process is continued, proceeding with step 1804. Otherwise entityinteraction trace operations are ended in step 1812.

FIG. 19 shows a simplified process flow of the performance of securityanalytics mapping operations implemented in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, a stream of eventdata 1902 provided by one or more event data sources 810, described ingreater detail herein, is monitored in step 1904 for the occurrence of aparticular event. If an event is detected in step 1906, then it iscounted, or otherwise tracked, in step 1908, followed by its associateddata being collected in step 1910.

The data collected in step 1910 is then provided an anomalous eventdetection system 122 for processing. Once received, the event datacollected in step 1910 is processed by the anomalous event detectionsystem 122 to determine whether its associated event adheres to one ormore security policies. If it does, then the event data collected instep 1910 is marked as an event exception in step 1912. However, if itdoes not, then the data collected in step 1910 is processed in step 1914by the anomalous event detection system 122 to detect anomalous eventsof analytic utility, described in greater detail herein. If an anomalousevent is detected in step 1914, then it is processed in step 1916 togenerate a corresponding event risk severity score.

A determination is then made in step 1918 whether to process thepreviously collected event data to generate an entity interaction map.If so, then an entity interaction map is generated in step 1920, asdescribed in greater detail herein. Thereafter, or if it was determinedin step 1918 not to generate an entity interaction map, then adetermination is made in step 1922 whether to perform forensic analyticsrelated to the detection of an anomalous event. If so, then they areperformed in step 1924. In certain embodiments, performance of theforensic analytics may involve analysis of one or more related entityinteraction maps, one or more related individual interactions, or acombination thereof, as described in greater detail herein. In certainembodiments, performance of the forensic analytics may involve thegeneration of an entity interaction trace, likewise described in greaterdetail herein.

Once the forensic analytics are performed in step 1924, or if it wasdetermined in step 1922 to not perform forensic analytics, then adetermination is then made in step 1926 whether the entity risk severityscore warrants the performance of a remedial action. If so, then it isperformed in step 1928. Thereafter, or if it was determined in step 1926that the entity risk severity score does not warrant performance of aremedial action, then the process is continued, proceeding with step1904.

FIGS. 20a and 20b show a simplified block diagram of a distributedsecurity analytics mapping system environment implemented in accordancewith an embodiment of the invention. In certain embodiments, thedistributed security analytics mapping system environment may beimplemented to map the occurrence of associated events, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the distributed securityanalytics mapping system environment may be implemented to use certainevent data to determine which events are associated with one another, aslikewise described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, thedistributed security analytics mapping system environment may beimplemented to include a security analytics system 118, described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the security analyticssystem 118 may be implemented to include an entity behavior catalog(EBC) system 120, an anomalous event detection system 122, and asecurity analytics mapping system 124, and a security risk scoringsystem 126, or a combination thereof.

In various embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 124 may beimplemented to provide certain event mapping information to the securityanalytics system 118. In various embodiments, the security analyticssystem 118 may be implemented to use such event mapping information toperform certain analyses, described in greater detail herein. In variousembodiments, certain analyses performed by the security analytics system118 may be used to detect an anomalous event that may be of analyticutility, as described in greater detail herein. In certain embodiments,the anomalous event may be associated with one or more user or non-userentities, likewise described in greater detail herein.

In certain embodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein,the EBC system 120, the anomalous event detection system 122, and thesecurity analytics mapping system 124, or a combination thereof, may beused in combination with the security analytics system 118 to performsuch analyses. In various embodiments, certain data stored in arepository of security analytics 680 data, a repository of EBC 690 data,a repository of event 670 data, or a repository of security risk scoringdata 660, or a combination thereof, may be used by the securityanalytics system 118, the EBC system 120, the anomalous event detectionsystem 122, or the security analytics mapping system 124, or somecombination thereof, to perform the analyses.

In certain embodiments, the EBC system 120, as described in greaterdetail herein, may be implemented to use entity behavior information andassociated event data, to generate an entity behavior profile (EBP), asdescribed in greater detail herein. In various embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented to use one or more session-basedfingerprints to perform security analytics operations to detect certainuser or non-user entity behavior, as likewise described in greaterdetail herein. In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118may be implemented to monitor entity behavior associated with a userentity, such as a user ‘A’ 702 or user ‘B’ 772. In certain embodiments,the user or non-user entity behavior may be monitored during user/device730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In certain embodiments, the user/user 770 interactions mayoccur between a first user, such as user ‘A’ 702 and user ‘B’ 772.

In certain embodiments, the anomalous event detection system 122 may beimplemented to perform an anomalous event detection operation, describedin greater detail herein. In various embodiments, as likewise describedin greater detail herein, the anomalous event detection system 122 maybe implemented to use certain associated event information to performthe anomalous event detection operation. In certain embodiments, theevent information may be stored in a repository of event 670 data. Invarious embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 124 may beimplemented to provide certain event mapping information stored in therepository of event 670 data to the security analytics system 118 foruse by the anomalous event detection system 122.

In various embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 124 may beimplemented, as described in greater detail herein, to manage certainevent mapping information relevant to the occurrence of an event. Invarious embodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein, thesecurity analytics mapping system 124 may be implemented to providecertain event mapping information relevant to a particular event to theanomalous event detection system 122. In certain embodiments, the eventmapping information provided by the security analytics mapping system124 to the anomalous event detection system 122 may be used to determinewhether a particular event is anomalous.

In certain embodiments, as described in greater detail herein, anendpoint agent 306 may be implemented on an endpoint device 304 toperform user or non-user entity behavior monitoring. In certainembodiments, the user or non-user entity behavior may be monitored bythe endpoint agent 306 during user/device 730 interactions between auser entity, such as user ‘A’ 702, and an endpoint device 304. Incertain embodiments, the user or non-user entity behavior may bemonitored by the endpoint agent 306 during user/network 742 interactionsbetween user ‘A’ 702 and a network, such as an internal 744 or external746 network. In certain embodiments, the user or non-user entitybehavior may be monitored by the endpoint agent 306 during user/resource748 interactions between user ‘A’ 702 and a resource 750, such as afacility, printer, surveillance camera, system, datastore, service, andso forth. In certain embodiments, the monitoring of user or non-userentity behavior by the endpoint agent 306 may include the monitoring ofelectronically-observable actions respectively enacted by a particularuser or non-user entity. In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306may be implemented in combination with the security analytics system118, the EBC system 120, the anomalous event detection system 122, thesecurity analytics mapping system 124, and the security risk scoringsystem 126, or a combination thereof, to detect entity behavior ofanalytic utility and perform a security operation to mitigate risk.

In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306 may be implemented toinclude an event counter feature pack 2008, an event analytics 310module, a security analytics mapping system 2024, and a security riskscoring system 2026, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments,the event counter feature pack 2008 may be further implemented toinclude an event data detector 2010 module, an event counter 2012module, and an event data collector 2014 module, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, the event analytics 310 module may beimplemented to include a security policy rule 2016 engine, an event ofanalytic utility 2018 module, and an anomalous event detection 2020module, or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the event data detector 2010 module may beimplemented to detect event data associated with a particular endpointdevice 304, as described in greater detail herein, resulting fromuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event counter 2012 module maybe implemented to collect, or otherwise track, the occurrence of certainevents, or classes of events, as described in greater detail herein,resulting from user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, anduser/user 770 interactions.

In various embodiments, the event data collector 2014 module may beimplemented to collect certain event data associated with theuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2016 enginemay be implemented to manage security policy information relevant todetermining whether a particular event is of analytic utility,anomalous, or both. In certain embodiments, the event of analyticutility detection 2018 module may be implemented to detect an event ofanalytic utility associated with events corresponding to the user/device730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event of analytic utilitydetection 2018 module may be implemented to use certain security policyinformation provided by the security policy 2016 engine to determinewhether a particular event associated with an endpoint device 304 is ofanalytic utility. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2016engine may be implemented to determine whether a particular event ofanalytic utility associated with an endpoint device 304 is anomalous.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2020 module may beimplemented to perform anomalous event detection operations, describedin greater detail herein, associated with events of analytical utilitycorresponding to the user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource748, and user/user 770 interactions. In various embodiments, the eventof analytic utility detection 2018 module may be implemented to providecertain information associated with one or more events of analyticutility to the anomalous event detection 2020 module. In certainembodiments, the event of analytic utility detection 2018 module may beimplemented to determine whether the one or more events of analyticutility are associated with one another.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2020 module may beimplemented to use such information in the performance of certainanomalous event detection operations, which in turn may result in thedetection of an anomalous event. In certain embodiments, the endpointagent 306 may be implemented to communicate the event and associatedevent counter data collected by the event data collector 2014 module,data associated with the events of analytic utility detected by theevent of analytic utility detection 2018 module, and the anomalousevents detected by the anomalous event detection 2020 module, or acombination thereof, to the security analytics 118 system or anothercomponent of the distributed security analytics mapping systemenvironment.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 2024 maybe implemented to generate an entity interaction map, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the security analyticsmapping system 2024 may be implemented to provide certain entityinteraction mapping information to one or more other components of thesecurity analytics mapping system environment. In certain embodiments,the security risk scoring system 2026 may be implemented to generate anevent risk severity score, likewise described in greater detail, for ananomalous event detected by the anomalous event detection 2020 module.In certain embodiments, the security risk scoring system 2026 may beimplemented to generate an event risk severity score corresponding to ananomalous event when it is first detected, as likewise described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the endpoint agent 306may be implemented to provide one or more event risk severity scores toone or more other components of the security analytics mapping systemenvironment.

In certain embodiments, an edge device 202 may be implemented to includean edge device risk module 2006. In certain embodiments, the edge devicerisk module 2006 may be implemented to include an anomalous eventdetection 2028 system, a event security analytics mapping system 2044, asecurity risk scoring system 2026, or a combination thereof. In certainembodiments, the anomalous event detection 2028 system may beimplemented to include an event data detector 2030 module, an eventcounter 2032 module, an event data collector 2034 module, a securitypolicy rule 2036 engine, an event of analytic utility 2038 module, andan anomalous event detection 2040 module, or a combination thereof.

In certain embodiments, the event data detector 2030 module may beimplemented to detect event data associated with a particular edgedevice 202, as described in greater detail herein, resulting fromuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event counter 2032 module maybe implemented to collect, or otherwise track, the occurrence of certainevents, or classes of events, as described in greater detail herein,resulting from user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, anduser/user 770 interactions.

In various embodiments, the event data collector 2034 module may beimplemented to collect certain event data associated with theuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2036 enginemay be implemented to manage security policy information relevant todetermining whether a particular event is of analytic utility,anomalous, or both. In certain embodiments, the event of analyticutility detection 2038 module may be implemented to detect an event ofanalytic utility associated with events corresponding to the user/device730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event of analytic utilitydetection 2038 module may be implemented to use certain security policyinformation provided by the security policy 2036 engine to determinewhether a particular event associated with an edge device 202 is ofanalytic utility. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2036engine may be implemented to determine whether a particular event ofanalytic utility associated with an edge device 202 is anomalous.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2040 module may beimplemented to perform anomalous event detection operations, describedin greater detail herein, associated with events of analytical utilitycorresponding to the user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource748, and user/user 770 interactions. In various embodiments, the eventof analytic utility detection 2038 module may be implemented to providecertain information associated with one or more events of analyticutility to the anomalous event detection 2040 module. In certainembodiments, the event of analytic utility detection 2038 module may beimplemented to determine whether the one or more events of analyticutility are associated with one another.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2040 module may beimplemented to use such information in the performance of certainanomalous event detection operations, which in turn may result in thedetection of an anomalous event. In certain embodiments, the edge devicerisk module 2006 may be implemented to communicate the event andassociated event counter data collected by the event data collector 2034module, data associated with the events of analytic utility detected bythe event of analytic utility detection 2038 module, and the anomalousevents detected by the anomalous event detection 2040 module, or acombination thereof, to the security analytics 118 system or anothercomponent of the distributed security analytics mapping systemenvironment.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 2044 maybe implemented to generate an entity interaction map, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the security analyticsmapping system 2044 may be implemented to provide certain entityinteraction mapping information to one or more other components of thesecurity analytics mapping system environment. In certain embodiments,the security risk scoring system 2046 may be implemented to generate anevent risk severity score, likewise described in greater detail, for ananomalous event detected by the anomalous event detection 2040 module.In certain embodiments, the security risk scoring system 2046 may beimplemented to generate an event risk severity score corresponding to ananomalous event when it is first detected, as likewise described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the edge device riskmodule 2006 may be implemented to provide one or more event riskseverity scores to one or more other components of the securityanalytics mapping system environment.

In certain embodiments, a third party system 780 may be implemented toinclude a third party system risk module 2026. In certain embodiments,the third party system risk module 2026 may be implemented to include ananomalous event detection 2048 system, a security analytics mappingsystem 2064, and a security risk scoring system 2066, or a combinationthereof. In certain embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2048system may be implemented to include an event data detector 2050 module,an event counter 2052 module, an event data collector 2054 module, asecurity policy rule 2056 engine, an event of analytic utility 2058module, and an anomalous event detection 2060 module, or a combinationthereof.

In certain embodiments, the event data detector 2050 module may beimplemented to detect event data associated with a particular thirdparty system 780 resulting from user/device 730, user/network 742,user/resource 748, and user/user 770 interactions. In variousembodiments, the event counter 2052 module may be implemented tocollect, or otherwise track, the occurrence of certain events, orclasses of events, as described in greater detail herein, resulting fromuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions.

In various embodiments, the event data collector 2054 module may beimplemented to collect certain event data associated with theuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2056 enginemay be implemented to manage security policy information relevant todetermining whether a particular event is of analytic utility,anomalous, or both. In certain embodiments, the event of analyticutility detection 2058 module may be implemented to detect an event ofanalytic utility associated with events corresponding to the user/device730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event of analytic utilitydetection 2058 module may be implemented to use certain security policyinformation provided by the security policy 2056 engine to determinewhether a particular event associated with a third party system 780 isof analytic utility. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2056engine may be implemented to determine whether a particular event ofanalytic utility associated with a third party system 780 is anomalous.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2060 module may beimplemented to perform anomalous event detection operations, describedin greater detail herein, associated with events of analytical utilitycorresponding to the user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource748, and user/user 770 interactions. In various embodiments, the eventof analytic utility detection 2058 module may be implemented to providecertain information associated with one or more events of analyticutility to the anomalous event detection 2060 module. In certainembodiments, the event of analytic utility detection 2058 module may beimplemented to determine whether the one or more events of analyticutility are associated with one another.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2060 module may beimplemented to use such information in the performance of certainanomalous event detection operations, which in turn may result in thedetection of an anomalous event. In certain embodiments, the third partysystem risk module 2026 may be implemented to communicate the event andassociated event counter data collected by the event data collector 2054module, data associated with the events of analytic utility detected bythe event of analytic utility detection 2058 module, and the anomalousevents detected by the anomalous event detection 2060 module, or acombination thereof, to the security analytics 118 system or anothercomponent of the distributed security analytics mapping systemenvironment.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 2064 maybe implemented to generate an entity interaction map, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the security analyticsmapping system 2064 may be implemented to provide certain entityinteraction mapping information to one or more other components of thesecurity analytics mapping system environment. In certain embodiments,the security risk scoring system 2066 may be implemented to generate anevent risk severity score, likewise described in greater detail, for ananomalous event detected by the anomalous event detection 2060 module.In certain embodiments, the security risk scoring system 2066 may beimplemented to generate an event risk severity score corresponding to ananomalous event when it is first detected, as likewise described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the third party systemrisk module 2026 may be implemented to provide one or more event riskseverity scores to one or more other components of the securityanalytics mapping system environment.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics system 118 may beimplemented to receive the event data, the event counter data, the dataassociated with the detected events of analytic utility and anomalousevents, or a combination thereof, provided by the endpoint agent 306,the edge device risk module 2006, and the third party system risk module2026, or a combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the securityanalytics system 118 may be implemented to provide the event data andevent counter data, the data associated with the detected endpointevents of analytic utility and anomalous events, or a combinationthereof, to the EBC system 120, the anomalous event detection system122, and the security analytics mapping system 124 for processing.

In certain embodiment, the EBC system 120 may be implemented to includean EBP element generator 2062 module, an EBP session generator 2066module, an EBP generator 2068 module, or a combination thereof. Invarious embodiments, the EBP element generator 2062 module may beimplemented to process event and event counter data, along with dataassociated with events of analytic utility and anomalous events,provided by the endpoint agent 306 to generate EBP elements, describedin greater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the EBP sessiongenerator 2066 may be implemented to use the event and endpoint eventcounter, data associated with events of analytic utility and anomalousevents provided by the endpoint agent 306, to generate sessioninformation. In certain embodiments, the EBP session generator 2066 maybe implemented to use the resulting session information to generate anactivity session, described in greater detail herein. In variousembodiments, as likewise described in greater detail herein, certain EBPmanagement operations may be performed to associate EBP elementsgenerated by the EBP element generator 2062 module with a correspondingEBP. Likewise, certain EBP management operations may be performed to usethe session information generated by the EBP session generator 2066module to associate a particular EBP element with a particular EBP.

In certain embodiments, the anomalous event detection system 122 may beimplemented to include an event data detector 2070 module, an eventcounter 2072 module, an event data collector 2074 module, a securitypolicy rule 2076 engine, an event of analytic utility 2078 module, andan anomalous event detection 2080 module, or a combination thereof. Incertain embodiments, the event data detector 2070 module may beimplemented to detect event data associated with a particular endpointdevice 304, edge device 202, or third party system 780, as described ingreater detail herein, resulting from user/device 730, user/network 742,user/resource 748, and user/user 770 interactions. In variousembodiments, the event counter 2072 module may be implemented tocollect, or otherwise track, the occurrence of certain events, orclasses of events, as described in greater detail herein, resulting fromuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions.

In various embodiments, the event data collector 2074 module may beimplemented to collect certain event data associated with theuser/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In certain embodiments, the security policy 2076 enginemay be implemented to manage security policy information relevant todetermining whether a particular event is of analytic utility,anomalous, or both. In certain embodiments, the event of analyticutility detection 2078 module may be implemented to detect an event ofanalytic utility associated with events corresponding to the user/device730, user/network 742, user/resource 748, and user/user 770interactions. In various embodiments, the event of analytic utilitydetection 2078 module may be implemented to use certain security policyinformation provided by the security policy 2076 engine to determinewhether a particular event associated with a particular endpoint device304, edge device 202, or third party system 780 is of analytic utility.In certain embodiments, the security policy 2076 engine may beimplemented to determine whether a particular event of analytic utilityassociated with an endpoint device, edge device 202, or third partysystem 780 is anomalous.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2080 module may beimplemented to perform anomalous event detection operations, describedin greater detail herein, associated with events of analytical utilitycorresponding to the user/device 730, user/network 742, user/resource748, and user/user 770 interactions. In various embodiments, the eventof analytic utility detection 2078 module may be implemented to providecertain information associated with one or more events of analyticutility to the anomalous event detection 2080 module. In certainembodiments, the event of analytic utility detection 2078 module may beimplemented to determine whether the one or more events of analyticutility are associated with one another.

In various embodiments, the anomalous event detection 2080 module may beimplemented to use such information in the performance of certainanomalous event detection operations, which in turn may result in thedetection of an anomalous event. In certain embodiments, the anomalousevent detection system 122 may be implemented to communicate the eventand associated event counter data collected by the event data collector2074 module, data associated with the events of analytic utilitydetected by the event of analytic utility detection 2078 module, and theanomalous events detected by the anomalous event detection 2080 module,or a combination thereof, to another component of the distributedsecurity analytics mapping environment.

In certain embodiments, the security analytics mapping system 124 may beimplemented to generate an entity interaction map, as described ingreater detail herein. In various embodiments, the security analyticsmapping system 124 may be implemented to provide certain entityinteraction mapping information to one or more other components of thesecurity analytics mapping system environment. In certain embodiments,the security risk scoring system 126 may be implemented to generate anevent risk severity score, likewise described in greater detail, for ananomalous event detected by the anomalous event detection 2080 module.In certain embodiments, the security risk scoring system 126 may beimplemented to generate an event risk severity score corresponding to ananomalous event when it is first detected, as likewise described ingreater detail herein. In certain embodiments, the anomalous eventdetection system 122 may be implemented to provide one or more eventrisk severity scores to one or more other components of the securityanalytics mapping system environment. Those of skill in the art willrecognize that many such implementations are possible. Accordingly, theforegoing is not intended to limit the spirit, scope, or intent of theinvention.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, embodiments of the invention may be implemented entirely inhardware, entirely in software (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) or in an embodiment combining software and hardware.These various embodiments may all generally be referred to herein as a“circuit,” “module,” or “system.” Furthermore, the present invention maytake the form of a computer program product on a computer-usable storagemedium having computer-usable program code embodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, ordevice. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In the context ofthis document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be anymedium that can contain, store, communicate, or transport the programfor use by or in connection with the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program codefor carrying out operations of the present invention may also be writtenin conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

Embodiments of the invention are described with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The present invention is well adapted to attain the advantages mentionedas well as others inherent therein. While the present invention has beendepicted, described, and is defined by reference to particularembodiments of the invention, such references do not imply a limitationon the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. Theinvention is capable of considerable modification, alteration, andequivalents in form and function, as will occur to those ordinarilyskilled in the pertinent arts. The depicted and described embodimentsare examples only, and are not exhaustive of the scope of the invention.

Consequently, the invention is intended to be limited only by the spiritand scope of the appended claims, giving full cognizance to equivalentsin all respects.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implementable method for performing asecurity operation, comprising: monitoring a plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to arespective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity;monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a secondentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the secondentity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enactedby the second entity; determining whether a first event of therespective first plurality of events and a second event of therespective second plurality of events comprise an entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity; generating an entityinteraction map, the entity interaction map providing a representationof the entity interaction between the first entity and the secondentity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensicsanalysis.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: identifying whenthe first event of the respective first plurality of events and thesecond event of the respective second plurality of events arecorrelated.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: the mapping comprisesconcatenating the first event of the respective first plurality ofevents and the second event of the respective second plurality ofevents; and, concatenation of the first event of the respective firstplurality of events and the second event of the respective secondplurality of events is included within the representation of the entityinteraction.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein: the entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity comprises a conveyance ofdata.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: providing the datawith an associated unique identifier; and, maintaining the associatedunique identifier within the entity interaction map.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: performing a security analytics operationusing the entity interaction map, the security analytics operationdetecting an anomalous event.
 7. A system comprising: a processor; adata bus coupled to the processor; and a non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, thenon-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to thedata bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality ofcomputer operations and comprising instructions executable by theprocessor and configured for: monitoring a plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to arespective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity;monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a secondentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the secondentity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enactedby the second entity; determining whether a first event of therespective first plurality of events and a second event of therespective second plurality of events comprise an entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity; generating an entityinteraction map, the entity interaction map providing a representationof the entity interaction between the first entity and the secondentity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensicsanalysis.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the instructions executableby the processor are further configured for: identifying when the firstevent of the respective first plurality of events and the second eventof the respective second plurality of events are correlated.
 9. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein: the mapping comprises concatenating thefirst event of the respective first plurality of events and the secondevent of the respective second plurality of events; and, concatenationof the first event of the respective first plurality of events and thesecond event of the respective second plurality of events is includedwithin the representation of the entity interaction.
 10. The system ofclaim 7, wherein: the entity interaction between the first entity andthe second entity comprises a conveyance of data.
 11. The system ofclaim 7, wherein the instructions executable by the processor arefurther configured for: providing the data with an associated uniqueidentifier; and, maintaining the associated unique identifier within theentity interaction map.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein theinstructions executable by the processor are further configured for:performing a security analytics operation using the entity interactionmap, the security analytics operation detecting an anomalous event. 13.A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computerprogram code, the computer program code comprising computer executableinstructions configured for: monitoring a plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of a first entity, the plurality ofelectronically-observable actions of the first entity corresponding to arespective first plurality of events enacted by the first entity;monitoring a plurality of electronically-observable actions of a secondentity, the plurality of electronically-observable actions of the secondentity corresponding to a respective second plurality of events enactedby the second entity; determining whether a first event of therespective first plurality of events and a second event of therespective second plurality of events comprise an entity interactionbetween the first entity and the second entity; generating an entityinteraction map, the entity interaction map providing a representationof the entity interaction between the first entity and the secondentity; and, using the entity interaction map to perform a forensicsanalysis.
 14. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions are furtherconfigured for: identifying when the first event of the respective firstplurality of events and the second event of the respective secondplurality of events are correlated.
 15. The non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein: the mappingcomprises concatenating the first event of the respective firstplurality of events and the second event of the respective secondplurality of events; and, concatenation of the first event of therespective first plurality of events and the second event of therespective second plurality of events is included within therepresentation of the entity interaction.
 16. The non-transitory,computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein: the entityinteraction between the first entity and the second entity comprises aconveyance of data.
 17. The non-transitory, computer-readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructions arefurther configured for: providing the data with an associated uniqueidentifier; and, maintaining the associated unique identifier within theentity interaction map.
 18. The non-transitory, computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein the computer executable instructionsare further configured for: performing a security analytics operationusing the entity interaction map, the security analytics operationdetecting an anomalous event.
 19. The non-transitory, computer-readablestorage medium of claim 13, wherein: the computer executableinstructions are deployable to a client system from a server system at aremote location.
 20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein: the computer executable instructions areprovided by a service provider to a user on an on-demand basis.